Meeting the son in law
by Sheen Shan
Summary: What do you do when your precious only daughter tells you she's going to marry your sworn enemy's son?That's a question that Harry needs answering as his daughter Lily prepares to marry Scorpius Malfoy.How far will Harry go to protect his only daughter?
1. First meetings and shopping

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry potter and anything that you recognize**.

**Summary**: What do you do when your precious only daughter tells you that she's going to get married to your sworn enemy's son? That's the question that Harry Potter needs answering. What measures will Harry take and how far will he go to ensure that his precious only daughter is safe.

**Chapter 1**

Lily Potter sat at a table outside Florean Fortesque's ice cream parlor. It was her favorite place to write her articles for the prophet and now that she was writing her book, she loved doing it here too. It was summer and so she decided to sit outside, it was nice to watch the people that went past and take in the crisp summer air. She felt a smile tug at her lips, she loved sitting outside. There was so much to see and the atmosphere was so light and cheerful that it made her feel light and cheerful too.

She looked at the watch on her left wrist and her eyes did a double take, she was going to be late for tea with her parents. She hurriedly packed up her things and stood up, grabbing her handbag as she went. She was in such a hurry that she didn't see where she was going. She had just stepped out onto the main street and was hurrying towards Diagon Alley's main square, when she felt herself collide into something solid.

"OWW" she groaned as she fell backwards onto the concrete. Her writing book had soared out of her hands and landed a few feet away from her.

"I'm so sorry" came a husky male voice from above her.

"Its fine" she assured from her position on her ground and without looking up proceeded to pick up her scattered items.

"I can't believe I was so careless, I should have looked where I was going" the male voice said.

"No really, it was my fault, I was in a rush and I wasn't paying attention. Don't worry about it" she reassured the man as she picked up the quills that had escaped the pouch they were in.

"I believe this belongs to you" he said as she stood up, stretching out his hand to give her the book.

Her eyes found the black leather bound book that her father had given her with the gold letters _Lily _on top.

"Thank y"- she trailed off as she caught sight of the man whose hand was attached to her book and her breath caught in her throat.

He was tall maybe about six feet or so, he had fine blond hair and magnificent grey eyes that looked like the color of a stormy night sky. She cleared her throat as she noticed him looking politely at her.

"Thanks" she said and took the book from him.

"No problem" he replied and smiled at her, she couldn't help but notice that his eyes seemed to sparkle when he smiled.

She smiled at him and tucked the book safely under her arm and made her way to Weasley's wizard wheezes where she would use her Uncle George's fireplace to floo home. She couldn't apprate there because her father, being an auror was very set on the security of his house.

"The safety of the family first" her father used to say.

She smiled as her chocolate brown eyes caught sight of the bright colored banner of Weasley's wizard wheezes. Even during her first visit to Diagon Alley, the banners and posters of her uncle's shop always stood out amongst everything else. It seemed like nothing had changed.

She hurried into the shop and was greeted by her Uncle George and his son Fred who were both overseeing the delivery of a new shipment.

"Sup Lil?" Fred greeted while placing a few items on the shelves.

"You're late" her Uncle George jibed wagging his finger at her "your mother's already owled three times and has even flooed twice to see if you were here".

"I was so caught up in my writing I totally forgot about the time" she half wailed.

"Well I suggest you get there soon, we don't want Uncle Harry to jump on the band wagon as well and decide to personally come down here and demand to know where his precious, only daughter is" Fred remarked in a baby's voice grinning at her. "I can just imagine Uncle Harry coming here to interrogate us, _what have you done to my baby girl? Where is she?_" he mimicked in an unflattering version of Harry's voice.

"Shut up Fred" Lily snapped.

"Oh touchy!" he said "what's stuck up your bum?" he asked.

"You" she snapped and went over to hug George.

"That time of the month again couz?" he asked and she flipped him when George wasn't looking.

"I've got to go" she replied and after hugging her uncle she kissed Fred on the cheek and grabbed some floo powder.

"Don't forget to send your mum and dad our love" George said as she stepped into the fireplace. "Katie said she'd pop over with that new recipe book tomorrow".

"Ok Uncle George, will do, bye!" and with a cry of "12 Grimmauld Place" she was engulfed by green flames and disappeared.

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Scorpius Malfoy sat down at his desk in his very large and very extravagant office. He had just come from a lunch meeting with some of the executives from the magical Law enforcement department. He was trying to get some information that would help one of his clients during their trial. He was late in coming back from lunch and he hadn't even bothered to look where he was going and he bumped into someone. Or rather she bumped into him. While he had remained upright, she had collided into him and had landed, ungracefully on the hard concrete pavement. He massaged the bridge of his nose; he was always rushing these days and he barely had time to do anything he wanted anymore. Being a Wizarding Lawyer was not an easy job these days. He was always working and he barely had time for himself. Not to mention that he had a falling out with the Auror department and so he couldn't expect any help from them if he needed. But still he was doing alright.

When he was fresh out of Hogwarts, being a top student in at least two subjects, he was offered a scholarship to become an auror and to train with the ministry and he accepted, to his father's great disgust. But Scorpius had always wanted to take that path ever since he was a boy. He had believed that the auror department could do something for the greater good of the Wizarding world but he was wrong. He did well in his theory tests and passed them with flying colors and he even aced the practical but just as he was about to graduate from training and become a full fledged auror, disaster struck. Weeks before he graduated, he kept noticing something fishy going on in the department, there seemed to be some shady dealings within the department. Many of their suspects in major cases were being dismissed and Scorpius had guessed that it was probably due to the hefty sums that the aurors were being paid.

He had suspected that many of the aurors had been accepting bribes to release their suspects and Scorpius had caught wind of it. In fact it all happened so suddenly, he had come back to the office late at night to retrieve his cloak that he had left behind, when he had heard his supervisor, Zacharias Smith, talking to someone in his office. Scorpius had taken a closer look and he had found the head of a prime suspect in a murder case floating in Smith's fireplace. Upon eavesdropping on their conversation he had found that Smith was being paid a lot of money to keep quiet about their dealings. When he had voiced this to his head supervisor, he had been assured it was all taken care off and then the next day when he had come in, he was 'let go' from the department. Scorpius had suspected that his supervisor Terry Boot was in on this whole bribing scheme too and to cover his tracks he had fired Scorpius.

After being fired from the auror department before actually graduating to become an auror, Scorpius had gone into law training and had decided to become a lawyer. He started up his own firm and specialized in compensation for war victims and he also did prosecution for cases. At least he was helping attain justice through some outlet. He paused mid- thought as he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in" he called.

"Mr. Malfoy" his secretary said, "your mother is on the floo network, can I patch her into your office?"

"Yeah sure Nadia go ahead" he replied and swiveled his chair around to face the fireplace and soon enough within seconds the shining blond head of Pansy Parkinson materialized in the fireplace.

"Scorpius darling are you busy?" she asked in that Syrupy voice of hers.

"No mother, you know I always have time for you" he answered back.

"Yes that's nice darling now I was thinking that we should get your dress robes tailored from Romero's instead of Malkin's for the ball" she said.

"Yes mother, if you think that's the best then we should do it" he replied mechanically.

"Well that's good Scorpius darling, now the simple matter of the date, who are you bringing for the ball?" Pansy asked looking at him saucer eyes.

"No one yet mother" he replied and then said the line that she had been waiting to hear "did you have someone in mind mother?"

"Oh yes, I was thinking that Millicent and Marcus have a lovely daughter, Melody and she'll be a perfect date for you" Pansy said smiling plastically at him.

He sighed to himself and replied as any 'good' son would "yes mother, that sounds lovely".

"Alright Scorpius darling, I have to go, the ladies are coming to the mansion for tea. So we'll go and get your dress robes tailored on Saturday how about that?" she said looking expectantly at him.

"Yes mother that sounds good" he said and watched as her head disappeared from his fireplace.

When pansy was gone, he looked at the empty fireplace. The ball, he had totally forgotten about it, it was supposed to be on Sunday. It was ministry gala, held for all its top officials and since his father was head of demons and dark arts association there was no escaping it. Scorpius had graduated from Hogwarts with top honors. He was the top student in potions and astronomy and the other times he had come in second. Harry Potter's son Albus had gotten top in Defense against the dark arts and transfiguration while Ron Weasley's daughter had snagged most of the first places for the other subjects. Much to his father's delight, Scorpius had been picked to play in the Slytherin Qudditch team without needing to buy the latest model of racing brooms for the whole team.

Scorpius was very much like his father but yet at the same time, so very different. Like his father, he had the same gray eyes, same blond hair and that same smirk. However, unlike his father, he was kind, funny and he cared about everything around him. Scorpius loved his father, yes he truly did. When he was younger his father used to tell him things about life and everything under the sun. He remembered times in his childhood when his father used to take him to the park and push him on the swing and they would go and get ice cream on impulse. But his father was different then, and he was different now. Pansy had made sure of that. They used to have so much fun together and when Scorpius thought of those times, he loved his father. But then when he remembered his father now, he wasn't so sure, in fact he wasn't sure if he even knew his father anymore. He was then interrupted from his thoughts again by a knock on the door.

"Come in" he called tiredly.

"Sorry to bother you Mr. Malfoy but your father is on the floo Network, may I patch him in?" his secretary asked.

"Yes sure Nadia, go ahead" he replied and he swiveled his chair around for the second time that day to face the fireplace.

It wasn't long before he was facing his father's silvery blonde head. He was greeted with his father's trademark smirk and he looked blankly back at his father.

"Hello father" he said emotionlessly "how may I help you?"

"Scorpius" he father said in that stern voice of his "have you spoken to your mother?"

"Yes father I have and we are going to get my dress robes tailored on Saturday and I have agreed to go to the ball with Marcus Flint and Millicent's daughter Melody" he said robotically.

"Ah, very good! Excellent boy!" his smirk widened. "I thought I was going to have to come down there and knock some sense into you but it seems that you've got a good hold of things. I will see you at dinner tonight" and with that, his father's head vanished.

"Yes father, and a hello and goodbye to you too" he mumbled.

This time he was interrupted yet again by a knock on the door.

"What is it?" he half snapped, half yelled.

"Sorry Mr. Malfoy but Mrs. De Winters is here to discuss the case" Nadia said.

"Let her in" he said and massaged the bridge of his nose. Today was going to be a long day.

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Lilly staggered out of the fireplace to her parents' house. She hated traveling by floo and she was never graceful when she got out of the fireplace, not like her mother. She heard footsteps hurrying toward the living room and she straightened her clothes.

"Lily darling" her mother said as she came into view.

"Hi mum" she replied and went to give her mother a hug and a kiss. "Sorry I'm late mum, I got caught up with my writing and I totally forgot the time and I'm so sorry".

"That's ok darling, no harm done" her mother smiled and led her daughter further into the house.

"Who else is coming for lunch?" she asked her mother.

"Well James is on tour again as he would have told you and Albus is in Scotland on training so that just leaves us, your father and Sirius".

"Oh is Sirius home?" she asked her mother looking puzzled.

"Yes of course he's home, it's the summer, he's back for the holidays. He only starts sixth year in September. Why? Where else would he be?" her mother replied sweetly.

"Oh right, erm nowhere. How's he doing by the way?" she asked her mother.

"He's fine but I'm a little worried about my baby boy because he's been under a lot of pressure" Ginny said a little dramatically.

"Pressure? Pressure? What do you mean by Sirius being under a lot of pressure? Mum he's top in the school academically, he's prefect, he's beater for the Gryffindor quidditch team! Plus I've lost track of the number of girlfriends he's had to date! What pressure does he have?" she asked incredulously.

"I mean I feel like he's under a lot of stress, you know to be like your brothers and you?" Ginny replied.

"Anyway where is he now? I can't believe that he's be starting the sixth year" Lily mused.

"Well Sirius is in his room as usual and your father is in his study. Why don't you go and call him and tell him that lunch is ready, he'll be thrilled to see you" she said.

Lily walked upstairs to her father's study and sighed. It was as if she was a little girl. She used to go into her father's study all the time, sometimes not to do anything at all. She just loved being in her father's presence and she just loved staying there while her father did his work. She knocked on the door and waited for him to say something.

"Come in" she heard her father's soothing voice call.

"Hi dad, it's me" she said and went into the study.

It was just how she remembered it, cozy and messy with books all over and a fireplace by the corner and pictures of the family all over the room. They were in frames that hung all over the wall and stood on the desk.

"Lily! Hello darling! I've missed you so much" he said and peered at her through his round framed spectacles.

"Dad, I was here two weeks ago" she said as he hugged her tightly.

"I know darling but you know, I can never see enough of my baby girl" he replied and smiled at her.

"Oh daddy" she said and walked over to the middle of the room. "Wow this place hasn't changed much has it?" she asked.

"No, not a bit. It is still the same from when you used to come here as a kid" he said looking fondly around the room. "You know you used to come in here all the time and you would bring your little stuffed dragon and you used to sit right there on that couch and just watch me with those beautiful brown eyes of yours".

"Daddy you're getting mushy, and besides back then I was small and looking back it was so weird that I used to do that" she replied laughing.

"I didn't think it was weird" her father said lovingly "in fact I found it adorable. You were always coming to see if I wanted anything, if I was hungry. Sometimes you would sit on my lap and wait for me to finish my work. You were my little Lily" he said and put his arm around her shoulder. "You were my baby girl" he said.

"I'm not a baby anymore and I'm not little Lily anymore either daddy" she replied.

"You will always be my baby little Lily" he said and kissed her forehead.

"Oh daddy" she laughed "And I totally forgot the whole reason why I came up here, mum told me to tell you that lunch is ready and she wants you to come down".

"Ooh lunch" her father said looking excitedly "we'd better go before your mother gets annoyed".

Harry put his arm around his daughter and led her downstairs where Sirius and Ginny were waiting.

"There they are" Ginny remarked as she spied her only daughter and her husband coming down the stairs.

"How lovely" Sirius said dryly.

"Oh hush Sirius; shouldn't you be excited that your sister is here?" Ginny asked her young son while setting the table.

"Oh yes, simply delighted" Sirius said, his voice oozing sarcasm.

"Nice to see you too retard" Lily remarked.

"This looks fabulous darling" Harry remarked to Ginny, kissing her soundly on the lips.

"Now let's sit down to eat" Ginny said and they sat down to eat.

Lily looked at the spread of food on the table and smiled as their old house elf Kreacher laid down the pot of soup on the table.

"Hello Kreacher, how are you?" Lily asked smiling at the elf.

"Good Afternoon mistress Lily, Kreacher is very well thank you" the old house elf replied and ladled the soup into the bowls.

"That's great Kreacher, this food looks lovely. Thank you for helping mum with the cooking" she replied pleasantly.

"It is no problem mistress Lily, it is always a pleasure" the elf replied looking subtly fond of the red headed young woman.

Lily was enjoying the lovely meal before her and she felt like she was a child again. It was good to be home even for the short time, or so she thought.

"Lily, actually your father and I have something to ask you" Ginny said looking at Harry.

"We do?" Harry asked looking slightly bewildered then upon seeing the look on Ginny's face Harry cleared his throat "oh yes we do have something to ask you".

"Your father and I were wondering if you are free this Sunday, we'd like you to attend a function with your father, myself and Sirius" her mother replied and Sirius spat out his soup earning a dirty look from his father.

"I'm coming?" he asked looking slightly aghast.

"Yes" replied his mother a little shrilly.

"I think I'm free" she replied and shrugged her shoulders.

"Oh that's set then, now we'll all go dress and robe shopping on Friday because your father is free on that day" Ginny remarked.

Harry nodded and busied himself with his roast chicken. "Dress shopping?" asked Lily looking slightly worried "why? Is it that big of a function?" she asked.

"Yes" replied Sirius gleefully "it's the annual ministry gala and the whole family is invited".

"What?" Lily exclaimed and dropped her fork "you tricked me! You didn't tell me it was a ministry gala! You know I hate them".

"Oh hush Lily, it's not that bad" her mother replied.

"Mum the last ministry ball I went for, I was tripped by Mitchell Longbottom and I fell backwards onto the buffet table and everyone saw my underwear!"

"So I guess Mitchell as your date for this ministry ball is out of the question" her mother mused and Lily shot her a murderous glare. "Oh darling, you're exaggerating".

"Yes darling" her father supplied "please come, for me?"

"Oh alright" she replied looking defeated "I'll come, but only for you daddy because I love you so much".

"That's my girl" Harry said lovingly.

"Alright!" Sirius exclaimed "if I suffer, she suffers too!"

"Sirius" his father warned.

Sirius looked gloomily at his mashed potatoes and Lily smirked at him. She truly was her father's girl. But for some reason, knowing that her brother would be there at the gala suffering alongside her didn't really cheer her up. It was going to be a long couple of days.

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Scorpius arrived home at about seven and handed his coat to Doner, their house elf.

"Hello Doner" he whispered, not wanting his parents to hear him interacting with the house elf.

"Hello Master it is good to see you home" the elf whispered back.

"Yes I'm sorry I haven't been home in a few days, I've been sleeping in my office" Scorpius replied "by the way where are mother and father?"

"Master and Mistress is in the dining hall with the guests" he said and scampered away as he heard footsteps approach.

Scorpius stood emotionlessly and then when he saw his mother's haughty face come into view he smiled.

"Scorpius darling" she exclaimed loudly and kissed him on each cheek. "Come your father is waiting for us in the dining hall with our guests" she replied and steered him towards the dining hall.

"Guests?" he asked stupidly.

"Yes guests darling" she snapped "now do close your mouth Scorpius, it's very unbecoming".

His father was waiting at the entrance to the dining hall and when he saw him he exclaimed "Ah, Scorpius my son!"

"Hello father" he replied emotionlessly.

"Come and meet our guests" his father replied and Scorpius noticed three other people in the room.

"You remember the Flints, Marcus and Millicent?" Draco asked his son.

"Yes father I do" he replied and then turned to the Flints. "How do you do sir?" he said shaking Marcus's hand and then kissed Millicent's hand.

"And this lovely young woman here is their daughter Melody" Draco announced.

Scorpius looked at the young woman in front of him. She had long dark brown hair and blue eyes. She was of course beautiful by any man's standards but Scorpius wasn't interested but he was too tired to care about anything and he just wanted to get the dinner over and done with. He was fairly sure that the only reason his parents were setting him up with Melody today and on Sunday was so that he would marry her. It was Malfoy Tradition to marry young.

"Hello" she said batting her eyelashes at Scorpius.

He smiled politely "Hello Melody, you're looking beautiful" he said flatly and kissed her hand as he had done with her mother.

"Oh you're too kind" she giggled.

Scorpius smiled politely once again, he had been raised by his parents to be well mannered at all times. His father was looking at him with an expression of mild delight which meant that his father was incredibly pleased with the way that Scorpius was behaving towards Melody.

Pansy and Draco had insisted that Scorpius should sit next to Melody during dinner and Scorpius tried his best to avoid talking to her and only spoke when he was spoken to. He was so preoccupied with the De Winters case and he was physically exhausted. He just wanted to go up to his room and sleep. He had had a long day.

"So Scorpius" Melody purred "what do you do for a living?"

"I'm a Wizarding Law prosecutor and I specialize in prosecution of murder cases and compensation cases" he replied and busied himself with his lamb.

"Oh how interesting" she replied and he nodded placing a piece of lamb in his mouth and chewing it thoughtfully.

As he was chewing, he felt something slide up his thigh and nearly spat out his lamb piece but instead he tried to swallow it and it resulted in him choking. Draco looked worriedly as his son began choking violently and rushed over and patted him on the back. He then handed Scorpius his goblet of water. Scorpius took a hearty swig and after a while he felt the piece slide down.

"That's it you're alright" Draco replied as his son took great heaving breaths, surprising everyone especially Scorpius.

"Thank you father" Scorpius said as Draco went back to his seat. Draco nodded in reply.

From her seat, Pansy was glaring angrily at Scorpius as if to say "how dare you choke during my dinner" and beside him Melody was smiling coyly.

"Well that was an interesting reaction" she whispered.

"Father" Scorpius called turning to his father "may I please be excused; I'm not feeling so good".

"Yes, you're not ill are you Scorpius?" his father inquired over the table.

"No I'm ill father, I just don't feel so good but I'm sure after some rest I'll be fine" he replied.

"Yes son go ahead" he replied and Pansy looked aghast.

"Good night Mr. and Mrs. Flint it was lovely to see you and Melody I shall see you on Sunday" he said and kissed Melody's hand.

He then walked over to his father and mother "Good night father" Scorpius said and Draco nodded. "Good night mother" he said and kissed his mother's cheek.

He then walked up to his room, dragging his feet as he went. When he opened his room door he was met with a very comforting sight. Doner had cleaned his room and his bed looked very inviting. He took off his shoes and cloak and flopped onto his bed and before he knew it he was fast asleep.

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It was a relatively cool Friday afternoon and Ginny, Lily, Sirius and Harry were at Madam Malkins dress shopping for Lily and Ginny and robes shopping for Harry and Sirius.

"Mum" Lily wailed "why can't I just wear that dress that I wore the last time".

"No" Ginny said firmly and Sirius and Harry looked tortured "we will find a dress for you" she added with great determination.

"But mum, we've been here for three hours and we've tried on 34 dresses and you, dad and Sirius have already got your outfits" Lily wailed.

"Yes darling" Harry added to Ginny "can't she wear the dress she first tried on?"

"Harry James Potter" Ginny growled "if you suggest that our daughter wear that ridiculous outfit one more time, you will be sleeping on the couch!"

Harry gulped and shrunk back into the shadows.

"Yeah great going dad now we're going to be here for another three hours" Sirius hissed.

"Well why don't you do something then?" Harry hissed back.

"Ok dad, watch the master at work" Sirius replied and went over to his mother who was instructing Lily to put on another dress.

"Mum why don't we"-

"Sirius Ronald Potter if you suggest anything I will take away your allowance and I will burn that beloved broom of yours into ash, so unless you make yourself useful, don't say a word!"

Sirius slunk back next to his father. "That was very helpful" his father whispered.

"Shut up dad" Sirius replied gloomily "now we're doomed".

"Unless we help your sister find a dress, there's no escaping this" Harry replied.

"I'm not doing that" Sirius replied looking mortified "it'll ruin my reputation. Just imagine what people will say when they see me cross the street. They'll say oh look there's Sirius Potter, the pansy boy who helps his sister pick out dresses" he snapped at his father.

"Well we don't have time to worry about your reputation, we're going to be here forever if we don't find your sister a dress" Harry snapped back.

"You're right dad, screw the reputation" he said and be began to frantically search the racks for dresses. "Don't just stand there dad, help me".

"I'm helping, I'm helping" his father replied and began to help.

After a few minutes of searching Harry and Sirius had come up with a pile of dresses.

"How about this one love" Harry asked Lily and Ginny placing a dress in Ginny's arms.

"Or this one" Sirius replied.

"Or this one"

"And this one"

"Or what about this one"

"This one looks nice, it has tassels"

"Oh this one has tassels and sequins"

"Nice choice dad that could work".

"ENOUGH!" cried Ginny and Sirius and Harry stopped talking. She threw the dresses that the two of them had piled into her arms, to one side.

She sighed and walked over to a rack and picked up a forest green dress with gold trimmings and handed it to Lily. Meanwhile Harry and Sirius stood in a corner and crossed their fingers, hoping for the best.

Lily came out of the dressing room dressed in the green dress robes that her mother had picked out for her. Even Sirius looked impressed.

"You look beautiful honey" Harry replied nodding.

"Yeah that looks hot" Sirius added.

"Yes we'll take that one" Ginny said and even Madam Malkin looked relieved.

"Oh mum I have to go now; I'm supposed to pick up Rose's birthday present. I'll meet you all back at the house?" Lily said and she headed in the direction of Flourish and Blotts.

She was making her way briskly to get Rose's present when she collided with something solid.

"Ow" she said as she landed sprawled on the concrete.

"I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going" a male voice said and a hand reached out to help her up.

"That's ok" she said as he helped her up "I'm fi"- she trailed off as she noticed the man before her.

It was the same guy she had bumped into before. It was the guy with the fine blond hair and stormy grey eyes.

"Oh hi there" he said smiling at her "I believe this is the second time we've bumped into teach other and that you've ended up sprawled on the floor".

"Yeah I guess. How embarrassing" she said and laughed.

"Anyway I'm sorry again" the guy said and then smiled at her and they went their separate ways.

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Scorpius looked bored as he watched his mother model her various outfits for him.

"How about this one Scorpius darling?" she asked.

"Yes mother" that one looks nice.

"Alright we'll take that one" Pansy told Romero, the owner of the shop.

Draco stood looking around at the different suits and ties.

"Here Scorpius, try this one" he said and handed the silvery grey jacket, black pants, black shirt and grey bow tie to his son.

"Yes, that looks ok" Pansy said and Scorpius nodded his head.

"Yes we'll take that one" Scorpius said to Romero.

"Very good sir" Romero said.

"Isn't this wonderful" Pansy exclaimed "I can't wait for tomorrow's ball. It's a good thing you're father is head of the Dark arts analysis department or we'd have never been invited" She told Scorpius who nodded diligently.

Scorpius was already beginning to dread this Ministry ball, it was so much effort and time and he didn't think he could be bothered to make an effort. If it was up to him, he would have been happy showing up at the ministry ball wearing muggle jeans and a t-shirt but considering who his mother was, he would die before he could walk out the door in his own choice of attire.

_Well _he thought to himself _let's see how this ministry ball goes. It's going to be a chore._

A/N: So that's my first chapter. Please read and review…flames are welcome! In the next chapter we have the ministry ball and another meeting with


	2. Ministry ball, men and family

DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything. I especially do not own Harry Potter and anything that you may recognize.

**Chapter 2**

Lily opened her eyes and looked up at the ceiling. She was met with a smiling face of Puddlemere United's former keeper Oliver Wood. The first thing she thought was _where the hell am I?_ She closed her eyes again, not wanting to see the poster. This wasn't her apartment, so where was she? She opened her mouth and screamed. With her eyes still shut, she groped around for her blankets and pulled them over her head. When she was a little girl, whenever she was scared of something she would crawl into her bed and pull the covers over her. She then heard the sounds of rushing footsteps and the door banged open. She screamed again and began to tremble.

"Lil" a familiar voice called and she felt herself being poked through the blankets.

"Dad?" she asked incredulously and threw the blankets off.

She was met with the concerned face of her father, the puzzled face of her mother and a very gleeful brother. They all looked as though they had just woken up. She began to blush furiously.

"Are you alright darling?" her father asked peering worriedly at her through his round framed spectacles.

"You gave us quite a scare dear" her mother said gently "what happened? Why did you scream?"

"I – I thought that I was kidnapped" she said feeling foolish. "I woke up and I found that poster on the ceiling and I thought that I had been kidnapped. I forgot I was staying here so that we could all go together for that ministry ball tonight". She smiled sheepishly at her family.

"It's ok darling, and I wonder who put that poster there?" Harry said turning to look accusingly at Sirius.

Sirius began humming a tune and looked around the room, trying to look anywhere but at his parents and sister. When he realized that his mother, father and sister were not going to stop glaring till he confessed, he gave in.

"Oh alright, it was me" Sirius admitted looking irritated. "I put that poster up there when you were sleeping".

"What?" Lily snapped "you little creep, wait till I tell mum and dad about…" she broke off at the wild look Sirius threw her.

"Tell us about what?" her father asked looking curious.

"Nothing" she replied and then to change the subject she said "why did you do it Si?"

"I just wanted to bring back some memories" he replied shrugging his shoulders "you used to be obsessed with Oliver Wood when you were younger remember? Even when he used to come round for drinks with dad and Uncle Ron, you would always blush and run away and besides why would you think someone's kidnapped you just because there is a poster of Oliver Wood on your ceiling".

"Sirius, I was ten years old back then and I just thought I was kidnapped ok. I mean I knew I definitely wasn't in my apartment" she replied looking mutinous.

"Anyway darling, I thought you would be glad to be back in your old room" her mother replied sitting down on Lily's bed.

"I am glad mum, but it's just that now that I'm older being back here just doesn't seem to fit with the person that I've now become" she said looking around her old room.

Sirius rested his lean frame against the doorway "oh how dramatic" he sighed and cringed when his father smacked the back of his head.

"Wise guy" Harry mumbled.

"Anyway" Ginny said clapping her hands together and standing up "what are we standing around for; we have a Ministry ball to get ready for so let's get going people".

"You mean now?" Sirius spluttered looking wide eyed at Harry who mirrored his expression.

"Yes now! We're burning daylight!" his mother replied firmly "It's ten in the morning which only gives us nine hours to prepare for the ball!"

"N-nine hours?" Harry asked.

"Yes nine hours" his wife replied.

"But Ginny love"-

"Harry James Potter" she said glaring at him "if you were even thinking of suggesting that nine hours is more than enough for a woman to get dressed, you are seriously misguided in the ways of women and will be sleeping on the couch for the next week". She looked at him as he gulped nervously. "Now darling what were you going to say?" she asked looking sweetly at him.

"Nothing Ginny love" he replied "now let's get going shall we?" he asked his children.

Ginny and Lily walked out, leaving Sirius and Harry alone together in the room.

"Great going dad, why don't you just ask her to buy you a leash and be done with it? You are such a trained poodle when it comes to mum; you're a disgrace to men everywhere!" Sirius lectured.

"I don't expect you to understand now son, but when you find the one and get married, you'll understand" Harry replied.

"All I know dad, is that when mum says _jump, _you say _how high?_" Sirius said pacing around the room. "Whatever happened to standing up for yourself and being a man?" he asked looking accusingly at his father. 

"Well son you see, your mother is a very smart woman, and she knows how to get what she wants and what she says goes" Harry explained.

"Yes but why can't you put your foot down and exercise your authority, you are the man of the house aren't you dad?" Sirius asked his father.

"Yes but if I don't give your mother what she wants, she will revoke my… err…privileges" Harry said looking uncomfortable.

"Privileges?" Sirius asked looking confused and then he made the connection "Oh I see _those _privileges. As in the _hanky panky_ kind of privileges" Sirius said grinning cheekily and nudging his father "Oh I get it now".

"Yes, those privileges" Harry replied clearing his throat awkwardly "and a man has his needs son…and when a man does not get his needs, he…uh…he becomes…err…an unhappy….erm…man…and when he becomes an unhappy man he…"

"STOP! DAD! PLEASE STOP! Oh for the love of Merlin! STOP" Sirius yelled and covered his ears "please no more, I don't think I can take much more of your sexually frustrated jabbering" he said looking seriously tortured. (**A/N:** No pun intended on the seriously tortured bit)

"Err ok" his father replied.

"Look let's just get this over and done with dad, if only James and Al were here we could have over thrown the women with our numbers" Sirius replied.

"Never fear son, I have a plan and I think this might work" Harry replied and he gave a loud whistle and within seconds the family's eagle owl Athena had swooped into the room and landed on his shoulder.

Sirius watched with interest as his father summoned a quill and some parchment and began to scribble furiously. Not a word was spoken during the time his father was writing the letter and when he had finished, Harry looked up satisfied. He sent off the owl and Sirius looked questioningly at his father.

"You'll see" was all his father replied and putting an arm around his son's shoulder, they went downstairs for breakfast.

At the dining table, Lilly looked curiously at her father and her brother; they looked calm and collected not at all how she'd expected them to be, considering that they had nine hours of primping to do with the women.

"What's up with you lot, why do you look so unaffected by all this?" she asked her father as her mother was bustling around the kitchen getting the breakfast things ready.

"Oh you'll see" was all her father said and he went back to his sausages.

She looked questioningly at Sirius and whispered "what's up with dad?"

"I have no idea, but he said to trust him" Sirius replied shrugging his shoulders. "I think it has something to do with mum" Sirius said.

The three Potters at the dining table looked at Ginny, whose back was facing them. She was humming to herself and flipping smiley face shaped pancakes and frying sausages at the same time. They turned back to face each other. Harry looked at his watch a few times.

"What's taking them so long?" he muttered to himself "they should be here by now".

"Who? Who are you talking about daddy?" Lily whispered.

As if on cue the doorbell rang and the three Potters at the dining table looked at each other.

"Reinforcements" Harry replied smiling triumphantly at his children.

"I'll get it" Ginny replied in a sing song voice and swished her wand and the pancakes landed on Sirius's plate.

"Aww mum, I told you I've had enough" he groaned.

"You have to eat more Si, you're getting too thin" Ginny replied lovingly as she made her way to the door.

Harry, Lily and Sirius looked anxiously as Ginny opened the door.

"We're here" a friendly booming voice called from the doorway.

"Oh thank Merlin" Harry sighed.

"Uncle Ron!" Lily shrieked and bounded from the table to hug her favorite uncle.

"Hello Lils" Ron said hugging her "I haven't seen you in a while"

"Yes, sorry about that I've been busy working on my book and you know with the part time job at the prophet, Rosie!" Lily shrieked when she spied her cousin. Although the girls shared an apartment, Rose had been living with her parents for the past month and a half as Hermione wanted some company since Ron had to go out of the country on work.

"Hey Lil" Rosie greeted, her blue eyes sparkling with delight.

"So what do we owe this surprise" Ginny asked Ron and Hermione.

"Oh I'm not too sure myself" Hermione replied "Ron said that he and Harry have something planned".

Meanwhile Hugo and Sirius, who were conversing softly, looked up at their parents.

"Harry, Ron, What's going on?" Ginny asked looking at the two stuttering men before her.

"Well you see Ginny, I-I thought that it would be nice if the girls got ready together and the men got ready together" Harry said raking his hand through his hair.

"Yes, Harry thought it'll be nice to get ready with some company" Ron supplied eagerly.

"Does your dad have the hanky panky needs too?" Sirius whispered to Hugo.

"Yep, he sure does" Hugo whispered back and they both snickered.

The Potter and Weasley men awaited their wives responses.

"Oh darling that's a wonderful idea" Hermione gushed and kissed Ron on the cheek.

All four men looked relieved. "At least dad's plan worked, now we can be off doing our own thing and the girls can do their own thing" Sirius whispered to Hugo.

"Alright, let's get going then shall we?" Hermione exclaimed and Ginny nodded enthusiastically.

"Going?" asked Ron dumbly.

"Going where?" Harry asked looking equally dumbstruck.

"We're going to get our nails done" Ginny replied "and it so happens that the place we're going has two free appointments after us and I asked Hermione and Rosie to join us".

"Yes well it was your idea after all Harry wasn't it? To get ready with company?" Hermione asked looking at Harry.

"Err…yes it was but I meant …I meant that"- Harry stuttered still in shock that his plan had backfired.

"Well let's get going then" Ginny replied and grabbed her cloak.

The men looked defeated and Ron looked like he was about to run, when Harry said "Oh no you don't. If I suffer you have to suffer too" and grabbed his arm.

"Well on the bright side" Sirius put in "there's only seven hours and thirty four minutes to go".

Harry and Ron groaned in unison and they dragged their feet out the door, following their wives.

"It's a good thing you intercepted the owl Hermione" Ginny whispered to her best friend and sister in law "If not we wouldn't have known any better and they'd all be at the pub doing Merlin knows what".

"You're right" Hermione replied softly "I've been threatening that if Ron doesn't come with us to get ready for the ball tonight, he'd be sleeping in Rosie's old bedroom for the rest of his natural life".

"Poor thing" Ginny sympathized "I've done the same to Harry as well" she said then she giggled girlishly.

"My, aren't we evil" Hermione mused as they turned behind to look at their husbands' gloomy faces.

"Poor dad" Lily whispered to Rose.

"I know, look at them, they look so tortured" her cousin agreed.

"We should help them" Lily replied.

"How about if we tell our mums that we've sent them off on an errand to collect the dresses from Madam Malkins and then they can do that and take as much time as they want" Rose replied.

"Yes, that sounds good" Lily replied and then hung back to speak to her father. "Daddy, Rosie and I think we might be able to help you and Uncle Ron". She whispered the plan into his ears and he beamed at her.

"That's my darling girl" he replied and kissed her forehead.

He got the attention of the other three males and whispered what Lily had told him. One by one their faces lit up.

"Hey mum" Rose called out to her mother "Me and Lil have sent the male specimens of our family to go and collect the dresses for tonight ok?"

"Yes that's fine" Hermione replied "but if I catch you near a pub Ronald just see what happens" she warned.

"Same goes for you Harry James" Ginny warned.

"And boys, you watch your fathers" Hermione said wagging her finger at the two youths who nodded their heads diligently.

"Now run" Lily hissed and Potter men and the Weasley men didn't need to be told twice, they zoomed off in the opposite direction.

"I wonder if they'll really bring back our dresses" Rose said wonderingly.

"Who knows?" Lily replied.

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Scorpius Malfoy sat at the dining table by himself. He was eating lunch alone today because his father was called away to work and Pansy was out getting her hair done for the Ministry ball that night. He liked the silence, he could think in peace, not that it wasn't already silent with his father and mother there but it was a matter of the silence being a comfortable one. Usually when dining with his mother and father, there was always an uncomfortable and awkward silence.

"Doner" he called out for the house elf.

"Yes master" Doner called out "what can Doner do for you?"

"Do you know what time mother and father are coming back?" he asked politely.

"Master and Mistress will be back later, in time to get ready for the ball. Master will be back around five in the evening to change and mistress will be back soon because mistress said she needs her make up done".

"Thank you Doner" Scorpius replied and got up from the table. He decided to work on the De Winters case now, since he had nothing to do.

The De Winters case was a case that was of utmost importance in Scorpius's mind. He was worried about old Mrs. De Winters, he felt sorry for her. The De Winters Case was one of the most prominent murder cases of all time and when the Ministry's law department could not solve the case, old Mrs. De Winters had come to Scorpius's firm to seek help. Scorpius had agreed to help the old woman for no fee at all. He didn't have the heart to charge her and add to her financial burden. He rifled through the case notes and came across a piece of parchment.

**Cyril De Winters was one of the ministry's top aurors working on a case, investigating a shipment of illegal potions when he was intercepted and killed on duty. His wife, Linda De Winters blames the Ministry for her husband's death and is currently suing the Ministry for negligence.**

Scorpius looked at his notes for a while longer and only looked up from them when he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in" he called expecting it to be Doner but to his great surprise, his father was standing in the middle of his doorway looking very uncomfortable.

"Erm…hello father" Scorpius greeted.

"Hello Scorpius, this place had changed a lot since I'd last been in here" Draco said looking around the room.

"Yes father especially since the last time you've come in here was when I was seven years old, about fourteen years ago".

Draco cleared his throat awkwardly "yes son" he said "by the way, how is the case going?"

"It's going ok father although there are a few gaps here and there that need to be filled in but I think I'll manage" Scorpius replied.

"You know Scorpius, I know I've not been as involved in your life as you might like but I do know what you do and I want to say to you, don't give up. Keep going and you will make it there in the end" Draco said as he sat down on Scorpius's bed.

"Erm…thank you father" Scorpius replied and faced his father.

"I also wanted to thank you for deciding to come with your mother and myself to the ministry ball. I had hoped that you would come and I was so glad when you said you would. And I wanted to say that you have made me so proud by accompanying Melody Flint to the ball. It had always been a tradition of Malfoys to marry young and soon, the time will come when you will marry too" Draco told his son who was nodding obediently.

"Yes father" Scorpius said.

"Did you know that when I was your age I married your mother" Draco looked at Scorpius with subtle fondness.

"Really?" he asked his father looking surprised.

"Yes son it is true and we tried for years and years to have a child and then we finally did, your mother was so pleased" Draco said with a faraway look in his eyes.

"Wow father I didn't know" Scorpius said.

"Yes before we had you we were supposed to have a pair of twins, but your mother miscarried" he said solemnly.

"Oh, I'm sorry father I had no idea"

"It's ok you know Scorpius, the other night during dinner made me realize that I don't know what I would have done if anything happened to you. You're all I have left" Draco said seriously and looked into his son's grey orbs.

"Nothing's going to happen to me dad, I'll be fine" Scorpius said and tried to lighten the mood. This whole conversation that his father was having with him was making him nervous. His father was not one to get all emotional but this was pretty much as about emotional as he would get.

"Yes I know but I just wanted to tell you that…" - The door banged open and standing in the doorway was Pansy in all her shining glory.

"I'm home my darlings! I just got my hair done!" she announced.

Draco and Scorpius stared at Pansy. Draco looked slightly alarmed and Scorpius's jaw had dropped a little. Pansy looked a sight for sore eyes. Her hair was piled up, giving Scorpius the impression that she had a stuffed vulture perched on the top of her head. If he wasn't so angry with her for interrupting his conversation with his father, Scorpius would have laughed out aloud.

"Well what do you think?" Pansy asked the two men before her.

"It l-looks great mother" Scorpius said feeling the guilt pool in his stomach for lying.

"Yes Pansy dear, it looks lovely" Draco agreed blinking rapidly. He stood up and cleared his throat "it's getting late, I'd better start getting ready and I suggest you do the same Scorpius" he said and stalked out of the room, his black cloak billowing behind him.

Scorpius felt slightly irritated that Pansy had interrupted his conversation with his father. He felt like he was finally getting through to his father and then typical Pansy, comes along and ruins everything. It was always the case, even when he was young it was the same scenario.

"Yes Scorpius darling, you'd better get dressed Melody will be here soon" Pansy replied sweetly and then went out the door, her enormous stuffed vulture like hair do and all.

Scorpius went into his on suite bathroom and turned on the taps. He was looking forward to a nice soak in the tub. Looking into the mirror he spotted the dark shadows under his eyes and surveyed his reflection.

"Scorp old chap, you really need some rest" he said to himself and began to undress.

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Lily stood in front of the full length mirror in her old bedroom. She was surprised to see a very different young woman staring back at her. Her deep red hair cascaded down her back in large curls. Her mother and godmother's expertise with make up had accentuated her long lashed chocolate eyes, high cheekbones and pouting lips. The dress that her mother had chosen had really seemed to bring her new life. The forest green and the gold work of the fabric seemed to make her look like a nature goddess. She was thankful that the combination of her father's black hair and mother's auburn hair had produced her blood red locks.

"This can't be me" she said out aloud. She heard a knocking on her bedroom door and sauntered over.

"You can't stay in there forever" her cousin Rose called from the other side of the door.

"I'm coming, I'm coming" she called and let her cousin in.

Rose gasped when she saw her cousin "oh my, is that little baby Lily?" she said and laughed as Lily smacked her lightly on the shoulder.

"Shut up Rosie" she said although a smile tugged at her lips.

"You look beautiful" her cousin gushed.

"Thanks and so do you!" Lily exclaimed as she noted Rose's pale blue dress robes.

"Yeah my dad's already had a fit about how revealing it is" Rose whispered as the two cousins descended the staircase.

"Oh no, well hopefully my dad doesn't say anything. I think it comes with being the only girls in the family" Lily replied looking worried.

"Wow Lil, you look hot" Sirius exclaimed as he caught sight of her.

"Thank you Si" she replied looking pleased. She had a right to be pleased; Sirius never paid anyone complements unless he really felt they deserved them.

"Oh darling, you look wonderful" her mother exclaimed looking beside herself. "That color really does wonders for your complexion".

Hermione and Ron agreed with her mother and Lily beamed at them. It wasn't long before her mother had whipped out her camera and began taking snaps of the family. It wasn't till now when she looked at her mother and father's beaming faces that she realized how much she had missed this. She had missed her mother's constant fussing over her and her father's non stop doting. She now half wished that she hadn't moved out.

"You look beautiful darling" her father whispered into her ear as he hugged her.

"Thank you daddy" she replied and was surprised that he didn't have anything else to say about her outfit. She was expecting some sort of protest at her going out in public dressed the way she was or something along the lines of that, but nothing came.

"Can we hurry up people?" Sirius asked looking impatient.

"Yes dear let's get going shall we?" Harry asked his wife.

"Let's wait a little while longer" Ginny said and bustled around the room.

"What's the hold up?" Sirius asked and the rest looked puzzled.

"Oh nothing" his mother replied absent mindedly and Hermione and Ron looked at her strangely.

Out of the blue the doorbell rang startling them. Ginny looked up excitedly but didn't make a move.

"Aren't you going to answer it mum?" Lily asked.

"Why don't you answer it dear?" her mother told her and Lily went to get the door, holding up her dress as she went.

Lily opened the door to reveal a handsome young man with a lily tucked into his breast pocket. He smiled widely revealing his pearly white teeth. He was athletically built with broad shoulders. If she wasn't mistaken, he played Quidditch for Ireland.

"Hi, I'm Alex Lynch" he said holding out his hand.

"I'm Lily" she said simply. She was going to murder her mother. This was one of her mother's plans to set her up with someone. She was about to shut the door in his face when her mother hurried over.

"Darling" Ginny said gritting her teeth a little, "Alex is a Quidditch player on your brother's team why don't you let him in".

Lily reluctantly obliged and let him in. Ginny and Alex followed her and he handed Lily a white lily corsage with a green ribbon.

"Thank you" she said flatly and glared at her father.

"I had nothing to do with this" he whispered in her ear "it was all your mother's doing". He gestured towards Ginny and Alex who were chatting lightly in the corner with Ron and Hermione.

"Excuse us for a minute Alex" she said smiling plastically at him and pulling her mother by the arm into the kitchen.

"Mum what do you think you're doing?" she exclaimed as soon as they were in the kitchen.

"What? I'm not doing anything" Ginny replied calmly and examined her fingernails.

"Oh mum, don't give me that. You're doing it all over again. First you tried to set me up with Mitchell Longbottom and now this guy? Mum I already told you I'm quite happy the way I am now and I don't want to be set up with anyone"

"Oh Lily dear, it's just that I thought it would be nice for you to have someone since you broke up with that whats- his- face a while ago".

"His name was Peter Boot mum, don't tell me you've forgotten already. He was in James's year at Hogwarts and he was also a junior auror under dad. How can you not know him?" she asked. Her mother looked around the kitchen trying to avert her gaze. "Mum!" Lily exclaimed frustrated "his father, Terry Boot and dad work together at the auror department. In fact Terry is dad's second in command and he used to come round for drinks with dad all the time and you should know this" she lectured.

"Well Terry was always such a nice man, sadly his son didn't turn out to be" Ginny sighed.

"But mum, look I know me and Peter didn't work out but that's because I didn't love him mum. I don't want to be set up with someone, that's not romantic".

"Darling, I just want you to meet the right person; I don't want to see you get hurt again" her mother replied touching her shoulder.

"I know mum, but somehow the right person will come my way, we just have to be patient. I'm sure he'll find me".

"Ok darling if you say so. I promise I won't try to meddle anymore, this is the last time" Ginny replied defeated.

"Thank you mum, but I really do appreciate you trying to help. I'm lucky to have you as my mum" Lily told her mother and hugged her. "But if it means that much to you, then I'll give Alex a go anyway, for your sake".

"Thanks you darling, now let's get back out there and get going or we'll be late" Ginny said and she and Lily went back outside.

Sirius, Hugo and Alex who were in deep discussion about Quidditch, looked up as they entered. Alex smiled at Lily and she smiled back slightly uneasily.

"We're ready to go" Ginny announce and Harry looked relieved.

"It's about bloody time" Sirius mumbled darkly to Hugo.

"Shall we?" Alex asked Lily as they were about to walk out the door.

Looking at her mother's smiling face she replied "yes, we shall".

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Scorpius sat with his parents and Melody at one of the round tables in the north corner of the room. He was happy that none of his former auror buddies were there. He looked around the huge ballroom. There was a gargantuan dance floor in the middle of the room and it separated the two ends of the ballroom. He hoped Melody didn't expect to dance with him, although he liked dancing he just didn't want to dance with her. Scorpius was thoroughly bored and he had only been in the ballroom for five minutes.

He turned to his right and saw Melody looking at herself in her compact mirror. Scorpius rolled his eyes inwardly. She had barely said two intelligent words to him in all the time she had been with him. Instead she concentrated her efforts on making him as uncomfortable as possible, by flirting with him and sliding her hand up and down his thigh. Nobody seemed to be paying any attention to him and he found himself not minding at all. He was really thankful when it was time for dinner, that way he didn't have to speak to anyone because they'd be too busy eating. He happened to look to his right again and he caught Melody's eye. She winked at him and licked her lips seductively. Scorpius was inwardly disgusted, he wasn't the sort that was interested in girls who practically threw themselves at him and besides Melody was as empty as a washed up shell on a beach. He looked at his watch, the evening had barely started and already he wanted to go home.

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"Lily stop fidgeting"

"I'm not fidgeting mum, just that I feel really uncomfortable" Lily snapped at her mother.

Alex looked mildly amused and when Lily had stopped bickering with her mother he whispered "you look beautiful by the way".

"Thanks" Lily replied smiling at him. Maybe this guy wasn't so bad after all.

"Sirius Ronald Potter" Lily heard her mother hiss at her brother, "will you please behave yourself".

She turned to Rose and they shared a knowing smirk. Sirius was never one to behave himself, even at important events. Although he was usually jumpy at these events, today he was especially nervous and Lily had a faint idea why. However, even Rose seemed to look uncomfortable. What was with her family today, had they all gone mad?

Their table was at the south corner of the hall and Lily looked excitedly at the dance floor in the middle of the room.

"Doesn't that look like fun?" she asked Sirius who didn't seem to hear her.

"Doesn't that look like fun Si?" she asked yet again.

"Hmm? What? Oh yeah" Sirius replied looking distracted.

"What's the matter Si?" she asked her younger brother.

"Nothing" he replied curtly.

"Don't tell me it's nothing Si, I know you're looking for her aren't you? Well don't worry she'll be here" Lily assured him.

"You think so?" he asked.

"Yes. Her father is head of the potions and poisons department after all" Lily replied.

"How do I look?" he asked Lily.

"Handsome as always" she replied and laughing she ruffled his hair fondly.

"I believe it's time for dinner" she heard a deep voice interrupt from beside her.

She turned to look at Alex whose greenish blue eyes were alight. "You know Lily; I don't think I told you how beautiful you look when you smile". She laughed and gently swatted him on the arm. She was about to say something to him when two young girls walked over to their table.

"Mr. Lynch may we have an autograph please?" one of them asked and Alex flashed his brilliant pearly whites.

"Why of course girls" he said and signed their pieces of parchment. "Now stay in school" he said and laughed.

"I don't get it" Sirius whispered on Lily's other side "where did mum pick this guy from?" he asked her.

"I don't know" she replied. "He seems ok, and besides I promised mum that I'd give him a chance".

"Well it's up to you" Sirius replied.

Dinner was a pleasant affair; she didn't have to meet any of her father's friends because she was with Alex. He seemed intent on talking to her and she was getting annoyed. Alex didn't seem to stop asking questions about her and he didn't seem to stop talking about himself.

"So have you been to a Puddlemere United game?" he asked.

"No, not yet" she replied "James has only just switched over to the team so we haven't really got a chance to see him play yet but we will soon".

"You should come sometime, you could watch me" he said. "Do you know that I was voted most eligible quidditch player for this year?"

"No I didn't" she said feigning interest.

"Yes and it was all due to the pass that I made at the trial round with the…" Lily zoned out nodding her head at regular intervals and responding with "uh-huh" and "I see" when she needed to.

When dessert had finished, music began to play and couples detached themselves from their tables to dance. Ron and Hermione got up with Harry and Ginny and they made their way to the dance floor.

"And so when I passed the quaffle to the other chaser Damien Moore, your brother fakes a quick pass and then we- are we going somewhere?" Alex asked as Lily stood up.

"Yes we're going to dance" she said and grabbed his arm. It was the only way to keep him from talking about quidditch. As much as she loved the sport, she did not like every one of Puddlemere's matches being retold by Alex.

Lily and Alex danced and she felt like she was actually having some fun. The pace changed and a slow song, that Lily didn't recognize came on. Alex placed his hands on her waist and she placed hers on his shoulders.

She smiled at him, looking deep into his eyes. This was the most romantic moment that she had had in a long time. Well the most romantic moment she had had since Peter anyway. She felt his hands slide and rest on her hips. Together, she and Alex swayed to the music. He smiled back at her and she felt her heart flutter. His hands were so gentle and smooth and they- they were moving down her bottom.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she exclaimed as she felt his hands rest on her bottom. She didn't give him time to reply; she lifted up a stiletto heeled shoe, stomped on his foot and stalked off the dance floor and out of the ballroom.

"Jerk" she muttered as she walked out.

She walked further down the corridor when she heard loud voices in the hallway. It was Rose and she seemed to be arguing with someone, a guy probably from the sound of things.

"What do you mean by it's not worth it?" Rose yelled.

"I'm saying that your family is never going to accept me for who I am and I say we just give up on the whole idea" a male voice retorted angrily.

"How do you know that, you haven't even tried so how would you know?" Rose asked angrily and it was obvious that she was crying.

"Why should we Rose, your family and mine are on opposite ends of the spectrum" the male voice said. "Hell will freeze over before your parents accept me. They'll hear my name and take one look at me and then they'll hate me and I won't put myself through that".

"Well at least, let me tell my cousin Lily, I know she'll understand" Rose pleaded and Lily felt a burst of pride erupt within her.

"Fine, do what you want" the male voice replied defeated.

"Thank you Varian, you know I love you right?"

"Yes Rose and I love you too" Varian replied.

Lily looked puzzled. Rose was in love with a guy called Varian, whom her parents supposedly didn't like. She knew she had heard the name before and it all sounded familiar but she couldn't make a connection.

"Now come on Rose, let's get back before our parents wonder where we've gone, we don't want to get ourselves into any unnecessary trouble" Varian said and Lily heard footsteps coming towards her.

She panicked and began to look for a place to hide. She didn't want Rose to think that she had been eavesdropping. Lily looked all around her and finally found an archway. She walked through without hesitating and found herself in the most beautiful garden that she had ever seen. It was a magnificent rose garden and it had a majestic fountain in the middle. What was this place? Even when she had attended previous ministry balls, she had never come across this garden. She walked around; this place gave her a sense of peace. She wondered if she could stay here during the whole duration of the ball.

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Scorpius was sitting at his table with Melody, everyone was dancing but them and his parents had gone off to mingle with friends. He wasn't in the mood to dance. Melody looked impatiently at him.

"Aren't you going to ask me to dance?" She asked.

"No, I don't feel like it" he replied back moodily.

"Fine" Melody snapped, "Then I'll just go dance by myself".

"Ok, suit yourself" he said casually.

"You're not going to stop me?" she asked incredulously.

"No" Scorpius replied.

"Fine" she huffed and got up from the table.

At last Scorpius was left in peace. He didn't feel in the mood to do much because his mind was plagued with thoughts about the De Winters case. That poor old woman had already lost her husband and Scorpius wanted to make sure that justice was served. He too got up from the table and wandered around. He bumped into his childhood friend Varian Zabini who was skulking moodily along the corridors.

"Hey Varian, what's up with you?" Scorpius asked.

"Nothing, these Ministry things always suck don't they?" Varian looked frustrated.

"Yes tell me about it, my father set me up with Melody Flint" Scorpius replied wrinkling his nose.

"Melody Flint? As in the lights- are- on- but- nobody's- home Melody Flint?" Varian asked.

"Yes" Scorpius replied gloomily.

"Oh, sorry Scorp but I don't see you two working out, she's about as dumb as a doorknob" Varian replied and he laughed at Scorpius's disgruntled expression.

"Yes, thanks a lot Varian, do you know my father's hoping that I'll marry her?"

"Oh yes, my father told me something about that" Varian replied "Well at least Melody is good looking, my father wants me to get married to Renee Pucey, and you remember her don't you? She's about two years younger than us, won't stop talking and is about as good looking as a troll?"

"Oh that Renee?" Scorpius asked grinning at Varian "well good luck to you then".

"Problem is, I'm in love with someone else and I think my father is going to kill me when he finds out who" Varian replied.

"Who is it?" Scorpius asked.

"It's Rose Weasley" Varian replied looking at his shoes.

"What? How long as this been going on for?" Scorpius asked looking shocked.

"A long time" Varian replied.

"So what are you going to do?"

"I don't know, I guess I'll have to tell my parents especially since I've proposed to Rose"

"What? Are you serious?" Scorpius asked him.

"Yes" Varian replied.

"Well at least she's not a Potter" Scorpius said.

"Imagine what would happen if either one of us brought home a Potter" Varian asked and the two of them thought for a while, then laughed.

"Like that's going to happen" Scorpius replied.

"Come to think of it, I'm not sure if Potter even has any daughters" Varian said thoughtfully.

"Yeah neither am I although I think he has one daughter, but I can't remember but I think she's much younger anyway" Scorpius replied.

"Anyway Scorp, I'd better go my parents would be wondering where I am and why I'm not at the table" Varian replied.

"Yeah, we should meet up sometime Varian, we hardly get to meet up anymore because of our jobs"

"Yeah I will owl you sometime" Varian said and after bidding his friend goodbye, he walked off.

Scorpius wandered around passing a few closed doors and then he came to an archway. He entered cautiously and found himself in the most magnificent garden he had ever seen. It was even more beautiful than the gardens back at Malfoy Manor. He scanned the area and his eyes rested on the fountain in the middle of the garden. But it was not the fountain that caught his eye but rather a person sitting by the fountain.

It was a woman. He could tell because moonlight shone through the enchanted ceiling of the indoor garden and illuminated her. He walked towards the fountain and sat down a little distance away from the woman. Her head was bend forward and locks of deep ruby red hair framed her face.

She looked very briefly up when she felt his presence and bent her head down again, looking at the ground. Scorpius's breath caught in his throat. She was incredibly beautiful. She had a creamy ivory complexion and brown eyes the color of melted milk chocolate framed by long lashes. Although he was quite sure he had seen her before. She suddenly looked up at him as if realizing something and her eyes did a double take. She quickly looked back down again, her long hair shielding her face from his sight.

"Hard day?" he asked kindly.

"You could say that" she replied in a melodious voice and Scorpius knew that he had definitely seen or met her somewhere.

"Have I met you before?" he asked her and she looked up into his face.

"Yes" she said smiling at him and he felt a slight jolt in his chest "We've bumped into each other twice in Diagon Alley and I landed on the ground both times" she replied looking somewhat embarrassed.

"Oh, I see" he replied "well I'm sorry I bumped into you back then. I just never look where I'm going these days".

"That's alright, I guess everyone's really busy and people have a lot on their minds" she added.

"Yeah, you're right" he agreed "so what brings you out here?" he asked making light conversation.

"Nothing really, to be honest I just wanted to get away from my date" she replied truthfully.

"Why?" he probed.

"It's just that it was my parents' idea to set me up with some guy and he turned out to be a bit of a creep" she replied.

"Oh I see, well it looks like we're both in the same boat then" Scorpius replied smiling at her "my parents set me with one of their friends daughters. I always wonder why they don't understand that I'm just not interested".

"I know exactly what you mean sometimes you just want to be left alone and they don't get that" she said.

"Yes and you don't' want to say anything because they never listen and they always think they know what's best for you" Scorpius replied with a bitter smile.

"Yes I know exactly what you mean" Lily replied turning around to face him.

"Well so here we are a pair of misfit loners" he said and laughed.

She grinned at him; the moonlight reflected his silvery blond hair making him glow. His grey eyes were stormy and intense and she felt herself getting lost in them. In fact she was so lost in them that she didn't' hear him talking to her.

"Sorry?" she asked as he looked at her strangely.

"I just asked what you were doing that day in Diagon Alley the first time that we bumped into each other".

"Oh" she replied feeling foolish "I was writing my book and I sort of lost track of the time so I rushed".

"So you're an author?" he asked looking interested.

"Well kind off, I usually edit articles and columns for the daily prophet but I'm also working on a book but that's just my hobby" she replied. "So what about you, what do you do?"

"I'm a lawyer" he said and smiled as he watched her eyes widen.

"Wow, you're a lawyer? You just don't seem the type to be a lawyer" she replied looking at him.

"Really? So what type of job did you reckon I did?" he asked.

"To be honest I thought you were a quidditch player" she said looking sheepish.

"No way" Scorpius said and laughed "Quidditch players are mostly all brawn and no brains".

Lily's face changed "how dare you?" she said angrily. "How dare you say that, my brother is a quidditch player and for your information he is smart" she said and walked off.

Scorpius groaned, _that's great Scorp, way to go. You've just driven that girl away from you; I hope you're happy now _he said to himself.

He got up and tried to find her. He went in what he presumed to be her direction and found her standing just off the dance floor. She wasn't moving and seemed to be staring at something in front of her but Scorpius didn't take note of that, he was to busy thinking of what he was going to say to her. He approached her cautiously and only then did he realize what she was staring at. His own eyes widened at the scene before him, it was Melody. She seemed to be dancing promiscuously with a guy, whom he recognized to be the quidditch player Alex Lynch.

"I take it he was your date?" Scorpius asked and she nodded.

"Come on, I don't think you should be worrying about them. Although that is my date that your date is dancing with, but not that I care- are you even listening to me?" he asked. "Besides didn't you say this guy was a creep?" Still no answer.

"Hello?" he asked waving a hand in front of her face "anyone home?" he asked again.

She didn't answer him and he tried again. "Look what are you worried about?" he asked her "they're both made for each other; they're both shallow and superficial. Excuse me? Are you listening to me?"

She didn't talk; she merely turned and walked away from him. He had a strong urge to walk after her but he was suddenly pulled away by his mother.

"Scorpius darling where have you been?" she asked him.

"Around, mother" he replied absentmindedly. He was watching her walk away, her slender frame moving slowly to the end of the ballroom. He desperately wanted to follow her, to say something, anything, but his mother was holding his arm in a death grip.

"Come Scorpius, I want you to meet some of your father's friends" she replied and led him away.

As he was being led away, all he could think of was her dismayed face when she saw Alex dancing with Melody. Her beautiful chocolate eyes were filled with sadness. He wasn't a fool, he knew that there had to be something else that was bothering her, not just the fact that Alex had been dancing with Melody. His eyes continued to follow her until she was out of his sight and only then did he realize that he didn't even know her name.

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Lily could not explain how she felt when she saw Alex dancing with another girl. It wasn't that she liked Alex, but the fact that every one of her dates seemed to end in a complete disaster that she felt upset. It was like Peter all over again. She felt tears sting her eyes as she thought of Peter. She had lied to her family about him. She had told them that the reason why they broke up was because she wasn't in love with him but the truth was, it was he who wasn't in love with her. He had cheated on her with a co-worker of hers. Then later when she found out, his explanation was that he wasn't in love with her. In fact he was never in love with her. When he had told her that, it had been a slap in the face. She was just his poster girl; he only liked her so that he could tell everyone that he was going out with Harry Potter's daughter.

When she had seen Alex dancing with that girl, it was the last straw. She felt silly now because she knew that Alex was a wanker and that she shouldn't beat herself up over him but she couldn't help it. It seemed that history was repeating itself. Why did all the guys she knew apart from her family, turn out to be such jerks? Then there was that guy, the one with the grey eyes and the silvery blond hair. She had thought that he was charming and nice but she turned out to be wrong about him as well. She walked down the corridor when she felt an arm reach out and spin her around. It was her brother.

"Lil are you alright?" Sirius asked her looking concerned.

"Yes, I'm fine" She replied trying to brush the tears away from her eyes.

"You're crying" he said simply.

"No" she retorted defensively "it's this bloody mascara that's making my eyes water" she said.

"Hmmm, if you say so" Sirius replied "But I know why you're crying, its Alex isn't it? I saw what he was did to you on the dance floor and then later dancing with that Melody Flint".

"Firstly I am NOT crying, secondly I do not care about Alex, he's a wanker and I hate him. Thirdly, I didn't know that that was Melody Flint" she said.

"Yes and I don't think you should worry about him" Sirius said simply.

"Why?" Lily asked looking curious.

"Because I've already taken care of it" he replied and led her back to the ballroom. He gestured over to the dance floor where Alex was still dancing with Melody Flint and counted down on his fingers. "5-4-3-2-1".

"ARGH!" came a loud cry and Lily had to stifle a giggle as she watched Alex clutch at his privates.

"What did you do Sirius?" she asked giggling madly as she saw that everyone was staring strangely at Alex who was clutching his privates and doing some sort of wild leg movement.

"Oh let's just say I gave him a few BOILS for making my poor sister BOILING MAD. Get it? Boils? Boiling mad?" Sirius said laughing at his lame joke.

Lily threw back her head and roared with laughter and soon she and Sirius were holding on to each other and laughing like there was no tomorrow. They didn't even stop when their mother and father hurried over to them.

"What on earth is Alex doing?" Her mother asked shrilly.

"I have no idea" Sirius replied innocently but Ginny and Harry eyed him suspiciously.

"If anything happens to Alex I will kill you Sirius Ronald Potter. His father is a good friend of mine and we used to be sports correspondents together" Ginny said and hurried over to Alex.

"What did you do Sirius?" Harry asked his son.

"Nothing dad I just gave him a little present that would go away in a few days, or weeks, or months. I'm not really sure, all courtesy of Uncle George and Uncle Ron" he replied and smiled cheekily.

"You do realize your mother is going to kill you" Harry said pointedly.

"Yes I know dad but I had to avenge my sister's honor!" Sirius said dramatically "he messed with one Potter and he messes with them all! All for one and one for all!" he exclaimed and Harry suddenly looked concerned.

He turned to Lily and asked "What did he do? Did he hurt you? I swear I'll wring that boy's neck if he did anything to you. Did he hurt you? Did he? Did he?"

"No dad" she said and shrugged off his questions "it's nothing major and besides Sirius took care of it" she replied and turned to watch her mother fretting over Alex.

"That's my boy" Harry said fondly and ruffled his son's hair.

"SIRIUS RONALD POTTER!" they heard a voice shout from the dance floor.

"Oh no" Sirius groaned and tried to hide behind his father and sister.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? YOU COME HERE NOW!" Ginny yelled and the next thing the three potters knew, she had reached them and was pulling Sirius by the ear to the dance floor.

"YOU RECTIFY THIS NOW!" she said and Harry and Lily winced, feeling sorry for Sirius.

"I can't mum" they heard him say feebly "it was an experimental product, Alex will just have to wait till it wears off".

"WHAT?? YOU MEAN TO SAY THAT THE PRODUCT YOU USED HASN'T BEEN TESTED??"

"Yes mum, now seemed like a good time to test it out" Sirius replied weakly, cowering before his mother. Sirius was easily taller than Ginny but when she was angry, she looked menacing.

"OH REALLY?? NOW APOLOGISE TO ALEX YOUNG MAN AND YOUR BROOM WILL BE CONFISCICATED FOR THE NEXT MONTH!! NOW I'M GOING TO CALL YOUR FATHER HERE TO GIVE YOU A GOOD TALKING TO!!" She looked at Harry who was laughing with Lily and when he notice Ginny's death glare, he stopped laughing immediately.

Lily smiled when she saw her father walk towards Sirius, Alex and Ginny. He was torn between berating his son like his wife expected him to and taking his son's side for giving Alex some pay back. She watched her father who looked very flustered while trying to berate his son, who was looking at him with great amusement. Ginny meanwhile had gotten Alex some ice, not that it helped at all. Hermione, Ron, Hugo and Rose had rushed over to join her parents and were enquiring about what had happened.

She watched her family all together and felt her love for them surge through her. No matter what happened, her family was always there, standing right beside her. They meant the world to her and she realized what her father had meant by "even if the world comes crashing down, your family will always be by your side". She smiled as she thought of the truth in her father's words and maybe Sirius understood as well, which was why he did what he did to Alex. Maybe she would stay with her family a while longer, instead of immediately moving back to her shared apartment with Rose. She could do with some family bonding, especially since James and Al were coming back soon. It would be nice to have the whole family together in the house. Just like old times.

She walked over to join her family, not wanting to be alone. She was about to say something to Sirius when she heard her father's gentle loving voice call out to her.

"Lily? Is everything alright?" he asked.

"Yes dad, everything's fine. At least this time no one saw my knickers" she replied and she heard her father laugh.

"That's true" he said.

"But dad, please don't blame Sirius. He was only trying to help me" she said defending her brother who was still getting an earful from his mother.

"I know darling. Sirius understands the importance of family, even though he may not show it, he cares deeply for you" he said.

"I know dad I know, because even if the world comes crashing down, your family will always be by your side" she said simply and looked into her father's warm emerald eyes, thoughts of Rose and her secret love affair and that mysterious grey eyed stranger forgotten.

He smiled at her. "That's right Lily, and don't you forget it".

A/N: I'm so sorry that this chapter is kinda long and kinda dragging. I'm also sorry that it's so crap. It's just that I've had a lot of things to do cause someone in my family is getting married and I have to help out. But I'm so sorry about this flop of a chapter. If you have any suggestions about what you want put in or how Scorpius and Lily should meet again in the next chapter please do let me know. I promise more meetings between them in the next chapter. I just wanted to set everything up first and lay the foundation of the story. Once again I'm so sorry. If anyone has any suggestions on how to improve this chapter or even for future chapters, please let me know. I'll greatly appreciate it if you were to read and review as well. Flames are welcome.


	3. Attacks, payback and dancing

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything!**

**Chapter 3**

Lily tiredly rubbed her temples with her index fingers. In the corner Sirius was bickering with her parents. She had come home to stay for a few weeks because there were some major renovations going on at her apartment. She and Rose had combined their savings and purchased the apartment and they were now in the process of getting it redecorated and renovated. It had been Harry's suggestion to add on suite bathrooms and Lily privately thought that one bathroom and toilet in the apartment wasn't enough and now that she had learnt of Rose's new boyfriend, maybe the renovations were for the best. Lily spied her mother in the corner laying food onto the table and went to give her a hand.

"What's happening with Sirius mum?" she asked while placing the cutlery onto the table.

"Oh your brother is insisting that he gets a new broom this year but your father and I just bought him a new one last year" she said to her daughter.

"Oh" Lily said suddenly realizing what the argument was about. She looked over to where Harry and Sirius were standing, the volumes of their voices going up a notch.

"But dad! Everyone I know is getting a new broom and besides if I want to try out for seeker I'm going to have to get a faster broom" Sirius exclaimed.

"Sirius it's not the broom that matters, it's the skill of the player. When your mother played for the Holyhead Harpies she didn't have the latest broom on the market, she was using my firebolt and still she became the youngest player in the history of Quidditch to score 300 goals in a season".

"But dad everyone is getting a new broom this year" Sirius protested.

Lily walked over to the bickering duo and placed her hands on her hips in an uncanny impersonation of her mother.

"What's happening here" she asked.

"I'm trying to tell dad that it's important for me to get a new broom because everyone I know is getting one"

"But Sirius you got one last year" Lily reasoned "at least wait another year before buying a new broom".

"I need a new one if I want to switch to a seeker" he protested.

"Well firstly I want to know if your reason to get a new broom is so that you can impress the girls and secondly I want to know who you mean by 'everyone'" Harry said looking at Sirius carefully through his round framed spectacles.

"Oh come on dad, firstly I don't need a new broom to impress the girls they are already impressed" Sirius said cockily. "Secondly, Chase Longbottom, Eric Bones, Tony Flint and Rowan Creevy are all getting new brooms this year".

"Yes, we understand that they're all getting new brooms this year but none of them got a new broom last year and the year before and the year before that" Harry remarked.

Lily sighed; this was going to go on forever. She had to think fast and try to solve this predicament. She decided to side with Sirius in the end. She realized that she had to help him; it was stated in the unwritten conventions of sibling loyalty after all.

"Well what broom do you want?" She asked Sirius, carefully laying out the bait.

"It's the newest model in the Nimbus range, the Nimbus Evolution" Sirius replied.

"Oh yes the Nimbus Evolution! It's supposed to be super fast and light weight and it had anti splintering charms and it's good even in tough weather" Lily remarked " I think Jenny Corner was telling me that her brother Brad was getting it" Lily said and when she didn't get a desired reaction she decided to take it up a notch. Sirius was staring at her curiously and then he seemed to catch on to what she was doing.

"Yes Brad Corner said that his parents were buying it for him and he didn't even have to ask" Sirius said as equally loud as his sister.

"Yes I heard that too" Lily replied "Jenny was telling me that Michael and Cho have pre ordered it" she said even louder and Harry rolled his eyes.

"Here we go" he muttered under his breath and then counted mentally. 5-4-3-2-1,

"What?" Ginny said, her head snapping up "did you say that Michael Corner and Cho Chang were going to buy Brad a new broom?"

"Yes" Lily replied sweetly and Sirius grinned at her "they've even pre ordered it".

"They've pre ordered it?" Ginny asked and both her children nodded.

"Ginny" Harry said warningly.

"But Harry, Cho and Michael are getting it for their son. We have to get it for Sirius" She said and sauntered over to him.

"But Ginny we agreed that we wouldn't spoil him" Harry said.

"Oh don't worry about that dad," Sirius broke in "I'll de-gnome Grandma and Grandpa Weasley's garden as well as Uncle Ron and Aunt Hemione's. Plus I'll do extra chores around the house for a month".

"I don't know" Harry began looking unsure.

"Come on Harry, Michael and Cho are buying their son a new broom" Ginny began.

"Oh alright" Harry gave in "but this means that you're going to de-gnome Grandma and Grandpa Weasley's garden, Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione's, Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur's garden as well as Mrs. Tonk's garden" he said directing the last part to Sirius who began to protest. "Plus you're going to be doing the chores for the rest of the summer starting now".

Ginny smiled at Harry and kissed him. "Thank you darling" she whispered against his mouth and both Lily and Sirius watched this little exchange with mock disgust etched on their faces.

"Now" Ginny exclaimed clapping her hands "where were we" she asked her children.

"New broom" Sirius replied.

"Oh yes, the new broom" she said and knelt down in the fireplace after placing some floo powder in it. "Quidditch for all" she yelled and soon the familiar voice of Quidditch for all's owner could be heard.

"What can I do for you Mrs. Potter" he asked Ginny.

"Ah Timothy so nice to see you again, it's been a while. I was actually wondering if I could pre order the new Nimbus Evolution"-

"Sorry Mrs. Potter but they've all been pre ordered and you can wait for the new shipment but that'll come in a month to two month's time" Timothy replied apologetically.

"That's alright Timothy thank you anyway" Ginny replied.

Lily looked at her brother's crestfallen face and felt a surge of sympathy for him. She looked at her mother consoling her brother who kept reassuring them that he was fine and telling them that it wasn't like he needed a new broom anyway. She walked towards the fireplace threw some floo powder in and shouted "Ross Davies". Her parents looked at her quizzically while Sirius looked at her hopefully.

"Hey Lils" Ross said when he saw her. "How are you?"

"Hey Ross, I'm great. How's the sports column going?" she inquired smiling at her old friend.

"Yeah it's going great, only thing is that the office seems kind of dead without you" he said while Lily beamed at him with two faint pink spots appearing on her ivory cheeks.

"So what can I do for you Lils?" Ross asked.

"I know this seems kind of forward Ross, but I sort of need a favor" she asked.

"Sure Lils, anything for you" he replied grinning at her.

"I need to ask you if you could use some of your contacts to pull some strings for me, I need to get the new Nimbus Evolution". She looked a little unsure as if she had asked the wrong thing and let out a breath of relief when she heard his answer.

"Yeah sure no problem I can do that but come to think of it I need a favor too" he said.

"Yeah sure no problem what can I do for you?" she asked.

"Is your mother there?"

"My mother?" Lily asked in surprise.

"Yes I need to speak to your mother. I want to interview her about her days as a Harpies Quidditch player and then late about her job as a commentator"

"Oh that's a surprise, usually people ask for my father but I am sure my mum wouldn't mind let me check" she said and turned away from the fireplace to look at her mother.

"Of course I don't mind darling" her mother said kindly although there were traces of excitement on her face.

"Yeah it's all good with my mum" Lily replied.

"I'll check back with you in about five minutes with regards to the broom ok?" He said and with a final beaming smile Lily got out of the fireplace.

She was busy brushing off soot and dust from the knee portion of her robes when Harry flicked his wand and all the dirt and soot vanished.

"Thanks dad" she said with a smile.

"So darling" her mother said casually "who was that delightful boy?"

"I forgot you could hear us but can't see us" Lily said. "Ross Davies is Roger Davies's Second Son. We used to play against each other back at Hogwarts and the later we worked together when I did my attachment with the Quidditch department of the Prophet".

"Oh yes" her father replied "I remember now, he was the delightful boy with the dark brown hair".

"Yeah" Lily replied smiling and nodding her head "remember daddy he used to give you free Quidditch merchandise when I was working for the sports column".

"Oh yes I remember that too. He was a nice guy" Harry mused thinking of all the free broom polish, knee guards, shin guards and elbow protectors that Ross had given him.

"Lil I think he's back" Sirius exclaimed excitedly as the fireplace glowed green.

A second later Ross's head appeared in the fireplace and he beamed widely when he saw the other Potters standing behind Lily observing him curiously.

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Potter I know you probably won't remember me but we've met once before" he said and grinned at them.

"Oh yes we remember you Ross, your father and I worked together commentating on the Quidditch World cup" Ginny replied and Ross smiled at her.

"That's right" he replied nodding.

"By the way Ross, thank you for all those Quidditch merchandise that you've been giving us over the years" Harry added.

"It was nothing Mr. Potter, by the way speaking of merchandise Lily I'm sorry but there are no Nimbus Evolutions left" he said apologetically.

"None left?" she asked as Sirius's face fell.

"No, however I was able to pull some strings and I think I can get you the gold edition of the Nimbus Evolution" Ross said grinning.

"No way!" Sirius exclaimed "the gold edition?"

"Isn't the gold edition the one with the gold tipped bristles, the speedometer, the anti stain guard, the handlebars for stunts and the anti slip guard?" Harry inquired.

"Yes" replied Ross "But it also has the added feature of the signatures of the entire English Quidditch team".

From somewhere behind Lily came a loud THUD and Lily turned around to see Sirius flat out on the floor. Her mother and father were immediately by his side and they had 'enervated' him.

She laughed and shook her head grinning widely at Ross's raised eyebrows. "Don't worry he's fine. He's just excited that's all".

"Does he do this whenever he's excited?" Ross asked "because if he did that would be a problem, not to mention painful".

"Yeah" Lily laughed as her parents led Sirius out of the room.

"You know Lily; I wouldn't have done this for anyone but you. You do realize that don't you?" Ross said looking at her.

"Yeah I know" she replied smiling.

"I still can't believe you left the column Lils. I mean I miss having you here and seeing you everyday. It's weird coming into work after an all nighter and not hear you say, hey Ross you look like shit" he said laughing.

Lily laughed and then looked at Ross, smiling sadly. "I really miss working with you" she said "it was the best time of my life".

"I know, it was the best time of my life too. You know something Lil; I don't know why you left. I mean, you had a great job with good pay and you were happy so what happened?" Ross asked.

"I don't know I guess after Peter and I broke up I felt lost and I think I needed some space to find out who I was" she replied shrugging her shoulders.

"So what's happening with you now?" he probed gently.

"I don't know Ross" she replied softly "I think part of me will always love Peter and I think another part of me will always hate him. It's kind of complicated but I'm getting through it".

Ross smiled at her "good on you Lil but remember if you ever need anyone to talk to, I'm always here for you".

"Thanks Ross it's nice to know that on top of my three brothers and gazillion male cousins I have defending my honor, there's always more people willing to join in" Lily said laughing.

"Anyway I have to go Lil, so we'll catch up soon yes?" Ross asked.

"Yeah sure" she replied and with a kiss on the cheek Lily bid Ross farewell and turned around to face beaming parents and a very chuffed brother.

"Don't say a single word" Lily warned as she walked past her delighted parents.

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"Oh Harry" Ginny said as she got into bed beside her husband that night.

"Yes?" Harry asked as he placed his glasses on the bedside table.

"I thought that Ross Davies seemed like a wonderful boy didn't you think so?" she asked him.

"Yes he seemed nice" Harry replied monotonously as he lay in bed.

"Sometimes I worry about her" Ginny said as she stared up at the ceiling.

"What do you mean?" he asked propping himself up on an elbow to face her.

"I know she tries not to show it but I can see all this sadness and loneliness in her eyes" Ginny said solemnly "she's not been the same since Peter".

"I don't know what you mean" Harry replied although deep down inside he knew exactly what Ginny meant. He himself had seen Lily looking so lost and alone and it hurt him. It hurt him more that she felt the need to bottle it up. He knew that she didn't want to burden anyone with her troubles and he couldn't blame her for that. After all he himself was the same and Lily had merely inherited the trait from him.

"Oh come on Harry, you know what I'm talking about. She barely goes out with her friends anymore. It's like she's shut herself from the outside world. All she cares about now is writing her book. When was the last time she brought a guy home?" Ginny asked looking at him expectantly.

"She's brought loads of guys home" Harry replied "what about that guy what's his name"-

"Oh you mean Josh Creevy?" Ginny asked.

"Yes Josh that was his name, what about him?" Harry asked her.

"I hate to tell you this Harry but Josh was gay" Ginny said and Harry looked at her blankly.

"Ok" he reasoned "then what about that other guy Marius?"

"Marius? Harry, Marius was the guy that fixed our plumbing" Ginny said looking straight at him.

"Right" replied Harry "I knew he was at our house for a reason".

"Well the point is, that our daughter is clearly unhappy and I think we should do something about it" Ginny said.

"Well what can we do?" Harry asked.

"Well I think that when James and Al get home we should do more things as a family to get us closer together. That way if she needs to talk, she'll find it easier to talk to us and we'll become her support base".

"If she finds out about Peter, it will kill her" Harry replied looking serious.

"I know I mean she was so devastated when they broke up even though she said it was a mutual thing. Just imagine how she'll feel that he- oh Harry I can't even bring myself to say it. I can't believe Terry didn't tell you about it and it's his son." Ginny said sadly.

"It's just as well that I heard it from the office. Nothing gets by unnoticed in the ministry especially the department because it's so close" Harry said looking at her.

"I know, let's just not tell her about it. I think if we don't tell her, what she doesn't know won't hurt her" Ginny exclaimed.

"Sounds like a plan" Harry replied as he wriggled deeper into the covers.

"Oh it does, does it?" Ginny asked and kissed him softly on the lips.

"Yes it does" Harry replied and kissed her back.

"Oh Mr. Potter" Ginny giggled as Harry began to tickle her.

"Come here you" Harry said and pulled Ginny closer to him. She only smiled and reached behind her to turn off the bed lamp.

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"So which dress do you like?" Rose asked Lily holding up two different dresses.

"I'm not sure but I think the brown one I feel the bronze patterns on it bring out your hair" Lily replied.

"Hmm ok if you say so" Rose replied and put her unwanted dress back on the rack.

"So what's this dress for anyway?" Lily asked ask she browsed through another rack.

"Well see I've been meaning to tell you this for a while now" Rose said looking a little uncertain.

"Ok, so what is it?" Lily asked.

"Well actually I'm meant to be going out this Saturday to that new club called the dancing unicorn and I'm going with this guy" Rose said biting her lower lip and looking at Lily.

"Oh really? Who is this guy? Your boyfriend?" she asked casually.

"Yes kind of but please don't be shocked when I tell you who he is and please promise me that you won't get upset or angry" Rose begged.

"Yes I promise" Lily said.

"Well it's Varian Zabini"

"Ok" Lily replied absentmindedly as she searched through the racks.

"Ok? Is that all you can say? I mean you're not mad or upset or anything?" Rose asked looking at Lily like she'd grown an extra head.

"No of course not" she replied looking at her cousin.

"But Lily, this is Varian Zabini we're talking about. His family has hated our families since forever and he was from Slytherin" Rose exclaimed.

"Yes I know but that doesn't change anything. I mean if you like him then there must be something good in him. Besides its wrong to judge a book by its cover" she said wisely.

"Wow I'm so glad that you're taking this well" Rose said beaming "I only hope that my parents have the same reaction as you".

"Wait you're going to tell your parents about Varian?" Lily asked looking at Rose incredulously.

"Yes especially now since he asked me to marry him" Rose added.

"He what?"

"He asked me to marry him" Rose repeated and Lily's face broke into a wide smile.

"That's great Rose. Actually I have a confession to make" She said.

"What? What is it Lil?" Rose asked looking slightly concerned.

"Well I knew about you and Varian because I accidentally overheard the two of you arguing at the Ministry ball" Lily said looking at her shoes.

"Oh" Rose said "Well that's ok. Its fine, don't worry about it. I guess I should have told you sooner but I just couldn't muster up the courage. I'm sorry Lil".

"No its ok Rosie don't worry about it, everyone has their secrets" she said and resumed browsing through the racks of clothes.

"Anyway now that you know about Varian, how about coming out with us this Saturday?" Rose asked.

"Oh but it would be so awkward I mean with the two of you and me" Lily said.

"Well I could always ask Varian to bring a friend, a very good looking friend" Rose jibed.

"Thanks Rosie but I think I'll pass" she replied.

"Ok suit yourself" Rosie said "but I still think you should come out with us".

"Yeah well it's just that I don't feel like going out anyway. I might just stay at home and work on my book".

"Well you hardly every go out anymore, when was the last time that you went out and did something fun?" Rose asked.

"I do fun stuff all the time" Lily said putting her hands on her hips "like just last week I went to the ministry ball".

"That's because your parents conned you into going" Rose put in.

"Yeah but I"-

"Lily?" a male voice asked from behind the girls. Both Lily and Rose turned around and their jaws seemed to drop a little. Behind them stood the last man in the world that Lily expected to see.

"Peter?" she asked looking at the tall but well built man in front of her. She seemed to go into a sort of a daze and was staring at Peter with wide eyes.

"Yeah, hey Lily how are you?" he said smiling at her.

"Great, how about you?" she asked.

"I'm doing great" he said looking at her.

Beside her, Rose cleared her throat loudly and Lily seemed to snap out of her trance. She looked from Rose to Peter and then realized why Rose had cleared her throat.

"Oh Peter you remember my cousin Rose don't you?" Lily asked gesturing to Rose.

"Oh yes Rose how are you?" he asked smiling at Rose.

The young woman huffed and folded her arms, narrowing her eyes at him. "I'm fine" she bit out.

"That's great so what are you guys doing here?" he asked.

"We're building bloody gingerbread houses" Rose replied sarcastically as Lily elbowed her in the ribs.

"We're actually shopping" Lily replied.

"I'm here for some shopping too" Peter replied.

"Oh whoop dee doo for you" Rose replied sardonically.

Suddenly a female voice cut in with a "hey honey what do you think of this jumpsuit for the baby".

Lily looked in shock at the woman who stood next to Peter. She looked exactly the way Lily remembered her to be except for fact that she was obviously pregnant.

"Lily it's so nice to see you" she said smiling plastically "it has been a long time hasn't it".

"Not long enough" Rose muttered under her breath.

"Oh Lily, you remember my wife Veronica don't you?" Peter said and Lily's head jerked upwards in his direction.

"Y-yes I remember" Lily replied and nodded her head.

"How could she not" Rose muttered.

"Well it won't be the two of us for much longer" Veronica said sweetly and Peter smiled and rubbed her stomach lovingly.

Lily looked at the two of them and her face fell. That could have been her stomach that Peter was rubbing. She bit back the tears that threatened to spill and felt like her world was crumbling before her. Lily was afraid that if she was to open her mouth she would bawl like a baby. She looked at Rose signaling to her cousin with her eyes. It was enough to set Rose off.

"Well then Peter and girl who's name I can't be bothered to remember, it was nice to see you but we must be going. Things to do and people to see! Bye!" she said and yanked Lily's arm. Lily only forced a smile and was dragged off by her cousin. She could do nothing more because the tears that had threatened to spill before were now free falling down her ivory cheeks.

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Scorpius was swamped with paperwork. There was so many reports that he had to fill and so many documents that he had to officiate. Plus there was all this work in regards to the De Winters case that he had to take care of. Sometimes he wished he could just take a break from everything. It had been years since he'd actually taken a vacation and maybe it was time for one.

He placed his head in his hands and closed his eyes. His head was beginning to ache and he didn't have any new leads to put forward his case for old Mrs. De Winters. Although he knew there was something that he was overlooking. It was about five in the evening and Scorpius was packing up his paperwork to take home when a black owl flew in through the window and landed on his desk. He plucked the black envelope from its beak and opened it carefully. On the letter were the bold words:

**If you decide to carry on with the De Winters Case, it would be at your own risk. Drop the De Winters case or be prepared to lose everything.**

Scorpius looked wide eyed at the piece of parchment from the envelope. Was this some sort of a prank? It had to be he assured himself. It was bound to be a prank done by his opposition. Maybe they wanted him to quit so that they wouldn't have to face any consequences. He crumpled the piece of parchment and threw it into the fire. He picked up his wand and was about to extinguish the flames, when it glowed an emerald green and Varian's head appeared.

"Hey Scorp what are you doing?" Varian asked his friend.

"I'm just packing up for the day and then I'm going to go home and sleep" Scorpius replied.

"Oh well how about coming out with me and Rose this Saturday? We're going to go to the dancing unicorn; it's a new club that we're going to try out"

"Oh I don't know" Scorpius said looking a little doubtful.

"Please come, besides I want to introduce you to Rose. After all the bride has to meet my best man" Varian said smiling slyly at him.

"I don't know I- wait a minute. Are you seriously making me your best man?" Scorpius asked.

"Yes" Varian replied "I know we're not that close now but when we were young we were the best of friends actually you were my only friend at the time so I can't think of anyone better than you to be my best man".

"Wow Varian, thanks man I mean I would really like to be your best man. It's an honor".

"Great" replied Varian "so then I'll come to your house and we can go to the club together. We're meeting them about ten, I think Rose is bringing a friend too" he said winking at Scorpius.

"Well then I guess I'll just have to dress to impress" Scorpius said cheerfully.

"Scorp man, you always dress to impress" Varian said and then laughed.

"Ok then I guess I'll see you later" Scorpius said and Varian's dark head disappeared from the fireplace.

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"Oh Lily please don't cry" Rose said as she handed Lily her handkerchief.

"I'm sorry Rosie I can't help it" Lily said sniffling as she walked through the family room of number 12 Grimmauld place.

"I know but what's the use in crying, it's time to move on" Rose said kindly.

"It's ju-just that he's s-so h-happy and he's m-married and they're going to be having a b-b-baby. You know I keep thinking that that could be me" she said sadly.

"Yes but think about what you have" Rose said and Lily looked at her expectantly. Rose looked uncomfortable and she struggled to find the right words to say.

"Well Rosie, what do I have?" she asked

The older girl fumbled a little "well err you have a wonderful family and"- she paused for a while to think. Finally after a few minutes she said "well at least you have a wonderful family".

Lily sniffled "I loved him Rose. I really loved him. If only I hadn't introduced them to each other then Peter and I would still be together". She let out a cry of frustration so loud that it seemed to echo throughout the house. Seconds later the sounds of three pairs of footsteps rushing down the stairs were heard and it wasn't long before Harry, Ginny and Sirius's faces came into view. Upon seeing her daughter's tearful face, Ginny was at Lily's side in a heartbeat.

"Darling what's wrong?" Ginny asked as she handed Lily a tissue.

"Oh mum" Lily said as her mother lovingly embraced her.

"What happened?" Harry asked Rose.

"We bumped into Peter today" she replied and Harry and Sirius looked at her wildly.

"You mean Peter as in the ex Peter?" Sirius asked and Rose nodded.

"Uh-oh" Harry said and listened in on what Lily was telling Ginny. Sirius on the other hand was leaning against the wall looking thoughtful.

"Darling don't get upset, there's no use crying over spilled milk is there now?" Ginny soothed gently. Lily nodded feebly.

"What's done is done and it's his loss that he's not with you, not yours. Besides darling, he's not that good looking anyway" Ginny consoled.

Lily let out a teary laugh and Rose jumped in at the opportunity. "Lily you should definitely come out with me and Va- my friend on Saturday. It would be the perfect thing to take your mind off Peter and besides you need to enjoy yourself, you haven't been out in a long time".

Lily looked doubtful. "Oh go on Lily, it'll be fun" Ginny said gently and even Sirius put in his two knuts worth.

"Come on Lil, you never go out and I think you've forgotten what it's like to have fun" he said.

"Oh ok" Lily said defeated.

"Besides I think my friend is going to bring a friend" Rose said slyly "and we could give you a whole sexy make over".

"Err I don't know about the make over" Harry said looking quite worried but Rose didn't hear him.

"It'll be the perfect plan to get your revenge on Peter" Rose said and then she whispered something to Sirius. He nodded enthusiastically and they both looked gleeful.

"Peter won't know what hit him" Sirius said smirking to himself. "He'll regret the day he hurt my sister" he said softly so that only Rose could hear him.

"Oh would you look at the time" Rose said suddenly as she glanced at the Potter's magic clock "It's almost six o'clock, I have to be back for dinner or mum and dad will kill me. So bye Lil I'll see you soon and see you Uncle Harry and Aunt Gin, bye Si". She stepped into the fireplace and vanished with the green flames.

"Oh it's ten minutes to six" Ginny said as she looked at her husband knowingly and they shared a secret smile.

"What's the big deal with it being Six? I don't get it" Sirius said looking confused.

"Oh I have to get dinner ready that's all" Ginny said cheerfully as she summoned Kreacher and set to work in the kitchen.

"I need to go and do some work upstairs, why don't the two of you stay here and chat I'll be down soon" Harry said as he walked up the stairs.

"Err…ok?" Sirius said shrugging his shoulders.

"Yes I think I'll sit here for a while" Lily said as she flopped down onto the large couch by the fire with a book in her hands.

It was about twenty seconds to six and Harry had still not yet come back downstairs and Ginny was still busy in the kitchen. Finally the clock chimed six and Lily looked up from her book as the fireplace glowed green and the doorbell rang at the same time.

"I'll get it" Sirius called as he made his way over to the front door.

The flames rose higher and higher and suddenly Lily heard Sirius let out a loud yell.

"Sirius" she called and got up to go and see what had happened when all of a sudden she felt a pair of strong arms pull her back and cover her mouth. She struggled and tried to make a sound. She then realized to her great dismay that she didn't have her wand with her. She had left it on the mantle piece when she had come in. She thrashed around but the grip was too tight and she cried out again but the hand over her mouth muffled her cry.

"Struggle and you die" her attacker's voice whispered in her ear and she stopped struggling at once. Her attacker's grip on her loosened and she spun around.

"JAMES!" she shrieked and gave him a playful smack on the shoulder.

"Hey little Sis" he said and held out his arms for a hug.

"God you scared me half to death" she said as she hugged him.

Then as if remembering she immediately let go and called "Sirius".

"Oh I'm sure he's fine" James said knowingly and sure enough a few seconds later Sirius came into the room with none other that Albus in tow.

"Oh Merlin! Al?" Lily asked incredulously.

"The one and only" Albus replied as Lily launched herself into his arms for a hug.

"I really missed you guys" Lily said as she grouped both James and Al in for a hug. Sirius inched backwards a little after greeting his eldest brother and he seemed to trying to slip away unnoticed.

"Hey Si, where are you going?" Albus asked casually inching closer to Sirius.

"Yeah Si, didn't you miss your big brothers?" James asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes as he too inched closer to Sirius.

"I'm sure they missed you too Si and I think that they missed you soo much that they want to give you a hug" Lily said cheekily as walked towards the youngest of the Potter children.

"Not just any hug though" James said looking thoughtful.

"That's right James but this hug is special" Al said "it's special because it's the Potter family…"

"GROUP HUG!!" Lily James and Al shouted in unison as they captured Sirius in a huge bear hug.

"ARGH!" he yelled torturously "GET OFF ME!! MUM! DAD!!"

Lily, James and Al all laughed as they let go of Sirius and Ginny and Harry had come into the hall to see what the entire ruckus was about. Harry laughed heartily as he watched his elder two sons capture his youngest in a headlock.

"Hello boys" Ginny said and laughed as her two sons hugged her.

"Wait how come you're not surprised to see them?" Sirius asked looking suspiciously from his parents to his brothers.

"We knew all along that they were coming" Harry said with an air of superiority.

"You did?" Lily and Sirius asked looking incredulously at their parents.

"Yes but the boys told us to keep it quiet because they wanted to see your reactions" Ginny replied.

"It's good to have you guys home again, where you belong" Harry said as he gave both his sons pats on the back".

"Oh it's great to be home" James said tiredly.

"Why? I thought quidditch was great? What's wrong?" Ginny asked her eldest son.

"Don't get me wrong quidditch is great, it's just that Whitlam has been working us to the ground with training and everything" James said.

"Whitlam? Really? He always seemed very lenient to me" Ginny said as she went into the kitchen with James following her.

However, wasn't long before James had come rushing back to the living room to confront his little sister.

"So" he said in the presence of Lily and his two brothers "what's this I hear about Peter the Prick making you cry?"

"Peter the prick made you cry?" Albus said sitting up in his seat.

"Guys it was nothing, it's just that he's married now" Lily said.

"Not to mention that apparently he and his skanky wife are having a baby" Sirius put in helpfully.

"But Lil I thought you were over the prick" Albus said looking at his sister with concern.

"Yeah" added James "I thought you and the prick had a mutual agreement to break up".

"Ok can we please stop calling him the prick" Lily said with mild irritation "for your information he was only a prick just before we broke up".

"So what's the story?" James asked.

"Well actually I sort of lied" Lily told her brothers and they all looked at her pointedly.

"We didn't break up mutually. In fact we broke up because he didn't love me anymore and he cheated on me with a colleague of mine who also happened to be my good friend at the time and now he's married to her".

"Oh" replied Albus looking as though someone had smacked him.

"Actually he didn't love me, he never loved me. It was all just a charade, probably so he could tell people that he had dated Harry Potter's daughter" Lily said a little bitterly.

"Wow he really is a prick" Sirius remarked letting out a low whistle.

"Yeah so now that you've heard the story I'm going to bed" Lily said and made her way over to the staircase.

"Aw come on Lil, that wasn't even a story" Albus protested.

"Yeah and come on Lil it's only eight" James chimed.

"Yeah I know well I'm tired so goodnight" she said and disappeared upstairs.

"We have to do something lads" James said folding his muscular arms and turning to his brothers once Lily had gone.

"I agree" said Al.

"It is our job as the Potter males to take care of the Potter females" James said puffing his chest out a little.

"But we need a plan, something really good to give Peter the prick a little payback"

"I agree Al, and I think I have just the thing" Sirius said and he whispered his devious plan into his brothers' ears.

"So should we let dad in on the plan?" Al asked.

"No absolutely not! You know how protective he gets of Lily; he'll just go overboard and crack. Then he'd do something stupid like pound him to pulp or he might even kill the Prick. You know how he gets if anyone has wronged Lily. So I think we should keep this to ourselves" James said taking charge.

Sirius, James and Al, in a traditional spirit of a brotherly pact, spat into their right palms and shook hands with each other. Ginny who had just come into the room looked at them with her eyebrows raised.

"I hope the three of you are going to wash your hands before dinner

" she said and the three brothers rolled their eyes.

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It was a cool Saturday morning and Lily was up and about. The Potter family had gone over to Molly and Arthur's house and they were supposed to stay for lunch along with other members of the humongous Weasley family. However, the cousins had all decided to meet early so that they could play quidditch. Lily and the other members of her extended family with the inclusion of Teddy Lupin formed a circle so that the teams and team captains could be picked.

"Ok this is how it goes" Charlie said taking charge "Harry, you're team captain and Lily, James, Al, Sirius, Hugo and Ron are on your team". His eyes scanned the brood of Weasleys before him and said. "Ok now for the next team, do you want to be captain?" Charlie asked his eldest brother.

"Nah, you go ahead" Bill replied giving his approval.

"Ok so on my team we have me, Bill, Fred (George's son), Lucian, John Pierre and Teddy. The rest of you who have volunteered will be the reserves".

Everyone nodded their heads and the reserves walked off the pitch and onto the makeshift stands that Bill and Ron had set up. The whole family was gathered there. Hermione and Ginny sat gossiping about the latest news. Percy was helping his father with some sort of new muggle contraption. George had unfortunately injured his back while testing out a new product for his joke shop and had to sit out of the game. Although he wasn't complaining because his wife Katie Bell seemed to be waiting on him hand and foot. The other brothers' wives who were not doing anything constructive were sitting around and chatting. The other cousins that were not playing quidditch were talking amongst themselves and getting ready to cheer on the two teams.

"Ok" said Harry as his team huddled together. "James and Hugo you both are beaters, Ron you're keeper, Al, Lily and myself will be chasers and Sirius you're the seeker".

Sirius looked up with surprise "me? Seeker? Dad are you sure?"

"Yes I'm sure" Harry said smiling at his youngest son "why wouldn't I be?"

"It's just that Seeker is always your forte so I thought that you wanted to play seeker" Sirius said.

"Well I just thought that since you were going to be the next Gryffindor seeker, you could start by practicing now" Harry replied.

"Thanks dad, for your confidence as well as letting me play seeker. It means a lot" Sirius said.

"Alright, alright, enough of this" Hugo said lightly "now, we got some ass to out fly" he said and the team high fived.

"Alright, let's get to it" Harry said and the all flew to their positions.

"So we heard about Peter the prick" Lucian said as he flew alongside Lily who was in possession of the quaffle.

"Is everyone calling him that now?" Lily snapped.

"We're just calling him what he is and anyway I can't believe he's married" Lucian remarked.

"What? Who told you about that?" Lily asked as she sped toward the gold posts.

"Well your mum told Aunt Hermione who told grandma Molly who told grandpa Arthur who told Uncle Bill who told Aunt Fleur who told my mum who told my dad who told me" he said as he tried to cross her to get the quaffle.

"What? Uncle Charlie and Aunt Nadia know about this?" Lily asked looking at Lucian sharply.

"Well yeah duh!" Lucian said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Who else knows about this?" she asked Lucian looking at him carefully.

"Well by now I'd say probably everyone knows, you should prepare for an inquiry from Grandma Molly soon" he said and let out string of curses in Romanian as Lily got the quaffle past Teddy.

"Hah!" Lily said triumphantly and did a victory lap around the pitch.

"We'll get you next time little Lily" her Uncle Charlie said, mock glaring at her. She threw her head back and laughed.

"Yeah right" she said and flew towards her father for their next game strategy.

George who was fed up about not being able to participate updated everyone with a running commentary.

"And now the quaffle is passed from Lily to Harry back to Lily again and now on to Al and then back to Harry and he makes a dive for it and he shoots- ooh he doesn't score. Now the quaffle is back to Lily to Harry then to Albus and- wow that was a whopper of whack by Hugo and the bludger is sent flying towards Jean Pierre and he is hit. No major injuries there thank goodness. Now the quaffle is passed to Lily who fakes a pass to Albus and he shoots and he scores taking the score to 50-30 to Harry's team". George made a face at Harry's team and he seemed to not want them to score.

"The seekers of both teams still haven't found the snitch and this could very well prove to be a problem. I hope Charlie finds the snitch fast, or we'll never hear the end of it if Harry's team wins. Now the quaffle is in possession of Lucian who passes to Bill who passes back to Lucian who pulls of a spectacular high pass to Fred, yes that's my wonderful, talented, intelligent, sexy, handsome, good looking"-

"Yes we get the point" Ginny hissed.

"Son" he finished.

Just as George and Ginny were about to have their monthly quarrel about George's commentating, Molly arrived and saved the day with the announcement that lunch was ready. It was a mad rush to get to the table; it got even worse when those that had been playing quidditch decided that it would be much easier to just simply fly to the table. Rose and Lily hung behind to talk about their outing that night.

"So I've brought everything we need here and I was thinking that we could use your mum's old room to get ready instead of wasting time and going home" Rose whispered.

"Yes you're right. I think that seems like a great idea because it doesn't look like we're going home any time soon and it's already three o'clock" Lily replied.

"Ok so it's all settled then. Oh by the way Varian said that he's bringing a friend and apparently you'll like him Lily. He seems like you're type, smart, funny and good looking" Rose jibed.

"Right, that's exactly what I need. Someone to get over Peter" Lily said cheerfully.

"I've also brought you some clothes incase yours aren't well suited" Rose added and Lily nodded her head.

"Good" Lily replied "you know, I'm really looking forward to this now I think it'll be fun".

"Oh most definitely" Rose said and the two of them walked towards the tables to have a very late lunch.

Meanwhile the boys had hung back and were deciding what to do in order to put their plan into action. They had included Hugo, Lucian, Fred and Jean Pierre in their plan and now all seven boys were huddled together.

"Oi Si, have you called the prick yet?" James asked his youngest brother.

"Yes I called him and he's coming" Sirius answered proudly while his cousins patted him on the back.

"Now Al have you called the rest?"

"Yes James, I have called them and they all said they'd be there" Al replied.

"Ok now Lucian did you inform the owner of the Dancing Unicorn about the light placement? I want it smack on Lily when she walks in" James said authoritatively.

"Yes I've got that covered" Lucian replied.

"Jean Pierre and Fred have you got the stuff from Uncle George's shop?"

"Yes, we just snuck them out without dad seeing" Fred replied. "We got a bunch of the whopper fart mints and green slime ball".

"Excellent" James said rubbing his hands together.

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Scorpius stood in front of his full length mirror wearing a charcoal colored shirt with silver embroidery and black khaki pants. His black shoes seemed to gleam in the light and he pushed back his slightly damp collar length blond hair. He adjusted the collar of his shirt and gave himself the once over.

The mirror let out a wolf whistle. "Oh honey, if only I wasn't a mirror I would do you right here" she said.

"Thanks Matilda. Err I think?" he said to the eccentric mirror looking somewhat embarrassed.

"Oh no problem sugar, always a pleasure" she replied. He sat down on his bed and decided to relax for a while because Varian wasn't going to show up for another half an hour.

He was actually looking forward to going to the club. It had been a long time since he had been to one or out with a friend for that matter and tonight he promised himself that he would just have fun. No worrying about his parents and no worrying about cases or clients. Tonight it would just be him. He raked a hand through his hair, it really was getting a bit too long and his mother had been constantly on his case to get it cut. He just hadn't had the time of late because of all the hype at work and various things to attend to.

"But darling it doesn't make you look proper" she had said when he protested.

His appearance was actually one of the only things in his life that he had a say in. It was quite pathetic really and he knew it. He laughed bitterly to himself. He was pathetic. Although he had a job, money, success and everything you could possibly want he was unhappy. He was still living at home with his parents. He still had to be down for dinner at seven when he was home. It was like someone had put the imperius curse on him when he was born to grow up to be the perfect child. He hated the way he was but it was not like he had a choice. His father had made it pretty clear years ago that he'd disown him should he think about putting a toe out of line, so he did what he was told and he still did. He walked downstairs and saw his father reading a book by the fire. He tried to be as silent as possible but his father still sensed him.

"Are you going out Scorp?" his father asked peering at him from behind frameless glasses.

"Yes father, I should be back very late" he said and stood there feeling awkward. His father was still peering at him.

"Ok don't forget to use the portkey point to get back home. The portkey from the club should take you to the quidditch pitch and you'll have to walk home from there" he said and went back to his book.

"Thank you father" Scorpius said and went into the kitchen to get a glass of water.

As he was having his drink he heard the doorbell ring and he heard his father open the door for Varian.

"Hi Mr. Malfoy" Varian greeted and Draco greeted him back.

"How's Blaise doing?" Draco asked and Varian looked at Scorpius who had entered the hall.

"Father's fine, he's busy working but other than that he's alright" Varian said and Draco was about to say something more when Scorpius jumped in.

"Oh Varian isn't it getting late? We should get going" Varian nodded eagerly. "Ok see you dad, I mean father" Scorpius said and he half dragged Varian to the door. When they were out the door, Scorpius looked at Varian and said "that was close".

"You got that right" replied his friend "now let's go get piss drunk!!" Varian said and they set off down the gravel path of the Malfoy mansion.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Lily sat impatiently as Rose fussed around her. She was seated in front of the dressing mirror in Ginny's old room. Her dressing gown was fastened firmly around her waist and she had about twenty different types of make up in front of her, courtesy of Rose of course.

"Now let's see we need foundation, some blush, mascara, eyeliner, eye shadow and some lip gloss" Rose muttered as she walked around Lily.

"Do we really need all that?" she asked as Rose eyed her.

"Yes now sit still" Rose said as she applied the make up onto Lily's face. Lily did as she was told and it seemed like hours later when Rose was finally finished.

"I'm done!" she said standing back to admire her handy work.

"Oh" Lily said as she looked at herself in the mirror "that does not look like me at all".

"Yes but you look great" Rose replied.

"This is the most make up I've ever had on my face" she said.

"Now get dressed while I put on my make up" Rose said and she began to apply her foundation.

Lily was about to put on the plain black skirt and white blouse that she brought with her when Rose shook her head.

"There is no way I'm letting you go out in that" she said.

"Why what's wrong with it?" Lily asked looking offended.

"Well it's good if you're going to work but for a club it's a little to prim" Rose replied wrinkling her nose. "Here try this on" Rose said tossing a short spaghetti strapped black dress to Lily.

"I can't wear this" Lily gasped as she got a good look at the length of the dress.

"Yeah sure you can, it looks great" Rose said and ushered Lily to put on the dress.

Lily eyed her reflection in the mirror. She didn't look half bad. Her long blood red tresses fell down her back in waves and she was wearing a pair of her best earrings and she had on her black strapped high heels.

"Now all that's left is this" Rose said and handed Lily her necklace. Lily had had that necklace since she was sixteen. James and Al had bought it for her for her sixteenth birthday. It was a silver heart shaped locket on a thin silver chain. When she opened the locket there were two tiny slots with her brothers' photographs inside. One was of Albus and James together looking as manly as possible and the other one was of a younger Lily carrying Sirius when he was a baby.

"Thanks Rose" Lily said and smiled as she put on her necklace.

Rose and Lily walked downstairs into the living room and were dismayed to find most of the family sprawled across the carpet and on the couches. Lucian let out a low whistle when he saw her.

"Looking good cousins" he said winking at Rose and Lily as they passed him.

"Eww, that is wrong on so many levels" Rose muttered.

"Oh by the way there's someone here to see you" Fred said winking at Lily.

"Who?" she asked.

"It's a surprise" he said and Lily walked out into the front where the adults were gathered around the table and Sirius came running towards her.

"Oh m-my g-goodness" he said breathlessly.

"What Sirius?" she asked as he doubled over and gasped for breath.

"It's here" he said.

She looked behind him and found a small crowd gathered around something gleaming. When she walked closer she saw her parents smiling at her. Her father and her uncles were all gathered around Sirius's spanking new Nimbus Evolution. It was then that she realized that there was someone else sitting there too. It was a familiar dark brown haired, blue eyed man. He was grinning from ear to ear and he seemed to light up when he looked at her.

"Ross, hi oh Merlin what are you doing here?" she asked looking at him in surprise.

"Well the broom came in so I owled your parents and they told me that you'd be here so I came here. They said it was ok" he replied.

"Yeah it's perfectly fine" she said and hugged him. "So how much do I owe you for the broom?" she asked.

"Well your dad has already paid for it so don't worry about it" he said and she looked at her father and mother who were looking delighted for some reason.

"Well thank you so much for doing this Ross and I know you didn't have to but you did. That means a lot to me" she said shyly.

"I know" he said "that's why I did it. I did it for you".

"Yeah so Sirius is really happy about this by the way" Lily said and they looked over at Sirius who was jumping up and down excitedly while his cousins looked on in envy.

"Yeah, so where are you going all dolled up?" he asked.

"Oh" she blushed "I'm going to the Dancing Unicorn" she said.

"That's a great club" Ross said "but anyway I have to go, I've got an article due tomorrow and I need to finish it so have fun tonight and we'll catch up soon ok?" he asked and she nodded her head.

He hugged her and bid goodbye to the rest of her family and disapprated off into the night. She was still staring at the spot where Ross had disappeared from. Now why couldn't she and Ross just get together? She had liked him for a while but wasn't sure if he reciprocated her feelings, so she just let her feelings for him die. She heard a loud cough come from behind her and saw her mother and father looking at her pointedly.

"What?" she asked them looking as innocent as possible.

"Nothing" her mother replied. "He was a nice boy wasn't he Harry?" she asked.

"Oh yes darling, he seemed like a lovely boy" Harry replied.

"It was nice of him to come here to bring the broom for Sirius wasn't it?" Ginny asked and Lily rolled her eyes. She knew what her parents were instigating.

"Yes he doesn't seem at all the type of boy to rip a girl's heart into shreds" Harry put in helpfully while Ginny elbowed him.

"Anyway" Lily said as she rolled her eyes, "Rose and I are going now, so I'll see you tomorrow morning then" she said and kissed her parents.

"Ok honey have fun" Harry said feebly thinking of the number of dangerous situations that his precious daughter could get into.

"Where's James and Al?" she asked.

"Oh they said they had something to do with Hugo, Lucian, Jean Pierre, Fred and Sirius" Ginny said "Probably some boy thing". Lily nodded and she and Rose left for the dancing unicorn.

000

The Dancing Unicorn was a large place with a flashing neon sign that looked like a dancing Unicorn. Lily stared at the place through new eyes. There were a lot of people queuing up and Rose and Lily got into the queue. They were supposed to be meeting Varian and his friend inside. The girls walked into the club without any problems at all. The club was huge and there was a spiral staircase that led down stairs to the dance floor. Lily was about to take her first step down when a bright spotlight focused on her. She looked horrified and soon became frozen on the spot.

"Lily" Rose hissed from behind her "please will you get a move on".

Lily made her way slowly down the stairs to a few cat calls and wolf whistles. She felt so exposed she had heard people start whispering things like "isn't that Harry Potter's daughter or she looks so much like Ginny the former star player of the Harpies".

Lily bent her head down and stared straight at the floor in front of her. The spotlight didn't shift from her for a bit. She looked behind her and found Rose gone, she panicked a little but realized why Rose had disappeared. Seconds later, the spotlight had disappeared from her and she could breathe easy again.

"Ok, so here's the thing the guys aren't here yet but I managed to get that wanker of a DJ to remove the spotlight from you" she said feeling a little out of breath.

"Thanks Rosie" Lily said feeling so grateful for Rose at that moment.

"But why was the spotlight on me? I don't get it" Lily said looking puzzled.

"Beats me" Rose replied shrugging her shoulders. "Come on let's get a table".

They walked in the direction of the tables near the bar area and suddenly Lily came face to face with the last person she wanted to see.

"Peter?" she asked as he stood before her.

"Hi Lily, what are you doing here?" he asked looking her up and down.

"I'm here with Rose" she replied gesturing to her cousin who looked defiantly at Peter.

"Oh hey Rose" he greeted "I'm here meeting a friend" he said.

"Good for you, now we must be going" Rose said and she pulled Lily away.

"You look great Lily, we should catch up sometime yes?" he asked.

Lily paused and something inside her bubbled and threatened to erupt. She yanked her arm free from Rose. She strode up to him till her face was inches from his.

"No Peter, we won't be catching up. I'm sick and tired of you and your crap. All this time you never wanted to catch up. Hell you never wanted to even be with me or talk to me. You _cheated_ on me Peter because you didn't like me or love me and now that you like what you see you want to _catch up_? Well I don't think so because you are the same shallow bastard now as you were back then, so I'm going to let go of you and every memory we ever shared. I sincerely wish you all the best with Veronica. People tell me I could have done so much better than you and I will, just you watch and see" she said.

Rose was applauding silently in the corner and mentally cheering on her cousin. Actually Rose wasn't the only one. A distance away stood a group of seven guys all attached to an extendable ear listening in on the conversation and they too were cheering Lily on.

Peter's friendly demeanor seemed to vanish and he laughed sardonically. "Oh Lily, you really think that you can do better than me? I highly doubt it, you still love me and I can see it. You'll never get over me and you are seriously mistaken if you think you can do better than me. I was the best you'll ever have little girl" he said.

Rose was about to rush up to him and smack him when she was intercepted by a tall muscular guy. He had black hair, lean physique and an earring in his left ear. Rose was gaping at him through an openmouthed. It was Chase Quigley the famous keeper for the English quidditch team.

"Hi" he said as he cut in between Peter and Lily "I'm Chase Quigley, I was wondering if you wanted to dance with me" he said taking Lily's hand in his and kissing it.

"Y-yes sure, you don't mind do you Rosie?" she asked Rose who gestured wildly for her to go on.

Peter stared dumbly as Lily was led on to the dance floor. He seemed to not be able to comprehend what was happening and he couldn't help but gape openly. Rose gleefully sauntered up to Peter.

"What were you saying before? That Lily couldn't find anyone better than you? Well buddy I think she just did" she said laughing triumphantly.

Peter stalked moodily over to the bar and flopped onto a bar stool. "One large fire whiskey" he said to the bartender.

When the song had finished Chase kissed her on the cheek and grinned "I'll be seeing you around" he said and walked out of the club.

Lily went back to the table that Rose sat at, smiling giddily. She sat down on a chair and ordered a chilled butterbeer from a passing waitress.

"Oh my god, please don't tell me that you just danced with Chase Quigley" Rose said.

"I did" Lily replied dreamily and Rose squealed like a child. It wasn't long before another guy approached their table. He had bleach blonde hair and light green eyes and he was well built.

"Hi there, would you like to dance with me" he asked Lily in a heavy Irish accent.

"You're Caleb Moran, the Irish national team's beater" Rose said and he smiled politely and nodded his head.

"So would you like to dance?" he asked Lily again.

"Go on" Rose hissed at Lily.

Lily got up with a smile and danced with Caleb to the great dismay of Peter and to the great joy of seven young men in the corner of the club. Meanwhile there was no sign of Varian and his friend, though it was still early and the clock hadn't chimed ten yet. Rose watched her cousin dancing with Caleb and felt happy for the young woman, she deserved to be happy. She saw Lily whisper something into Caleb's ear and he nodded walking away from the dance floor. Lily came back to sit with Rose.

"So what happened?" she asked Lily.

"He's coming back, he just went to get something" she said and took a sip of her butterbeer.

Minutes later, Caleb came back followed by another quidditch player called Ajay Ivanova. Rose looked ecstatic. Peter looked positively gloomy as he downed the last of his firewhisky.

"One more firewhisky" he said to the bartender. Thoughts of the friend he was supposed to be meeting, long forgotten.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Scorpius and Varian were hurrying over to their portkey point because Malfoy Manor's anti apparition wards were still up and Scorpius didn't want to trouble his dad to get him to take them down.

He and Varian were due to leave in five minutes when suddenly out of the clearing that they were standing in, came five hooded figures. They had their wands drawn and it was a good thing Scorpius had remembered what he had learnt during his auror training. He shouted "protego" and placed a shield charm in front of him and Varian. Jets of red and green light collided with the shield charm and exploded into the air.

"Run Varian" he shouted and the two of them ran into the woods.

"Scorp let's get out of here" Varian shouted back and the two of them ran faster.

"We have to get back to the portkey there's another one that leaved in ten minutes" Scorpius said.

"Well how do we do that? They've got the portkey surrounded" Varian replied.

"Let's do the old double D method, like we did back in school" Scorpius said grinning.

"The Distracted Dumbass method" Varian said smirking.

"Let's do it" Scorpius said and he and Varian split up.

Varian went around the west corner of the little hooded circle and chucked a rock into the bushes a little way from him. He peered through the leaves and saw two of the hooded figures approaching him. When they were out of sight of the other hooded figures and within Varian's range, he stunned one of them and after disarming the other, he stunned him too. He then waited patiently for Scorpius who was dueling with one of the hooded figures after stunning two of them. Varian got out of his hiding place and approached the portkey. Scorpius was sent flying to the ground with a tripping hex and he had a huge gash in his arm. It was so fast that Varian didn't have time to react. He saw the hooded figure shoot something at him he closed his eyes and waited for the curse to come but he felt nothing. He looked in front of him to see the shimmering outline of a shield charm. Scorpius had quickly cast the shield charm on him while he was on the ground. Varian let out a breath of relief while Scorpius had stunned the last remaining figure.

Varian rushed to help Scorpius up and they saw more figures coming out of the clearing. "We've got to go" Varian shouted.

"Accio portkey" Scorpius yelled and the portkey came soaring towards him. Once he and Varian had a hold over the portkey, they felt the ground vanish beneath them and the familiar tug behind the navel and knew that they were safe.

When their feet touched the ground again they found themselves in the alleyway beside the club. Both were dirty and disheveled.

"Here let me help you" Varian said and he began to magic the dirt off their clothes.

"Who the hell were those guys?" Varian asked his old friend.

"I have no idea, but I intend to find out" Scorpius said determinedly.

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Lily and Rose were taking a break, they had been dancing for so long that their feet were hurting. The whole of the Tornados quidditch team was at the Dancing unicorn. They were celebrating their title as end of season champions.

"Why isn't James here, he plays for the Tornados doesn't he?" Rose asked Lily as they got a butterbeer.

"Yeah I wonder why's he's not here" she replied. Then she turned to Caleb "isn't James supposed to be here too?" she asked.

"Err, yes but he said he had some family member that he had to take care off and he'll be late" he said.

"Funny how James didn't tell me that he was meant to be here" Lily said "and he knew we were coming here" she said. "Besides what family member did he have to take care of, did he say?'

"He must have forgotten and no he didn't mention anything else" Caleb replied.

"He looks pathetic doesn't he?" Rose asked Lily, looking at Peter who was still waiting for his friend to show up. He had quite a few empty firewhisky glasses in front of him.

"Another firewhisky" he said gruffly to the bartender.

"Wait a second, I'm going to go to the toilet, and I'll be right back" Lily told Rose and got up to look for the toilet. She approached a door with the picture of a witch on it and was about to go through when she heard some familiar voices.

"I think we should get the bartender to put it in now"

"No, let's just wait and see"

"But if we wait and see then he'll be too drunk to remember it. I want him to suffer; he should remember this torturous day for hurting my sister"

"Wow Sirius, who knew you were so wicked".

"I do try"

"But what about the other people sitting around him?"

"Oh Al, stop worrying. What? Don't give me that look. Ok if you're so worried about the other people then you can do a shield charm".

"What would dad say?"

"Dad's not here, therefore he won't say anything"

"Exactly"

"Shut up Sirius you're only here because we helped you get in here. Remember you're underage".

"Oh piss off you specky git"

"Call me that one more time, and I'll come there and"-

"Come on guys break it up, we have important business to do"

"That's right thank you Hugo for reminding us"

"I say that we do it now, let's live in the moment. Plus I sort of agree with Sirius, I think he might be too drunk to remember it if we wait till later".

"Yez me too. Although I think zat zis might be a leetle too strong for Peter. I think zat we are being too cruel"

"Jean Pierre are you crazy? Nothing is too strong for Peter; in fact he's getting off lightly. And we're only doing this because we can go to Azkaban if we murder him. Plus Al's an auror in training and it won't look good on his job application if we murder Peter".

"Wat iz wrong with zis family all we ever think about is killing poople"

"What the hell is poople?" Sirius exclaimed.

"Poople you know? Like you and me, we iz poople too".

"No JP we iz not poople, we are wizards. In fact we are darn good looking, extraordinarily debonair, confident and respected wizards".

"May I point out to you zat we are only respected because of our family?"

"JP are you going to shut up? Don't make me come over there and make you" James said.

"Well stop picking on the guy just because he's speaking his mind"

"Shut up Al"

"Guys" Lucian tried to cut in.

"No you shut up James, you're such a jerk"

"Guys" Lucian tried again.

"One of these days Al, I'm really going to kick your"-

"GUYS" Lucian practically shouted.

"What?" they asked.

Lucian gestured in Lily's direction where the red headed girl had her hands on her hips.

"Oh my god, she looks exactly like mum" Sirius said.

"Yeah I know it's scary" Albus replied.

"This can't be good" James said and gulped.

"James what the hell is wrong with you? What are all of you guys doing here?" she asked.

"We were…we were, just getting drinks" Lucian replied and ordered a butterbeer from the waitress.

"With Sirius here? You've brought out sixteen year old brother to a club?" she asked looking at her elder brothers with pursed lips.

"It was totally their idea Lils, they made me come" Sirius said trying to look as helpless as possible.

"I'm going to ask you guys again, what are you all doing here?" she asked and when she got no answer she decided to play it dirty.

"Ok Hugo if you don't tell me why you guys are here, I'm going to tell Rose that you're here and she is going to kill you" Lily said while Hugo gulped nervously.

"Well" Hugo said "we came here because we wanted to give Peter the Prick a little payback for hurting you so we organized everything".

"Organized everything?" Lily asked in a dangerous voice.

"Yes" Hugo squeaked.

"What did you guys organize?" she asked.

"Don't tell her anything" James said Lily shot him a death glare.

"We pretended to be Peter's friend and invited him here and then we got James's friends from quidditch to come and dance with you to make him jealous and we thought it would be the perfect revenge to get back at him for hurting you".

"I see and what were you going to ask the bartender to put in his drink?"

"Just some joke stuff from Uncle George's shop" Lucian replied.

"Where's Fred?" Sirius asked suddenly, "I swear he was here just a minute ago and now he's not".

"I did it" Fred said coming out of no where. His face was flushed and he looked excited.

"What did you do?" Lily asked.

"Just wait and see" Fred said as Peter downed a glass of firewhisky in a single gulp.

Just then a loud farting noise was heard and the guys all began to laugh hysterically. They all turned to Fred.

"Oh no you didn't" laughed Lucian.

"Yes I did, I put the whopper fart mints in his drink when he was distracted and the green slime ball…" he said trailing off as a waitress approached Peter for the bill. She handed him a green ball and he took it, examining it closely when all of a sudden "SPLAT". The slime ball exploded all over Peter. This was accompanied by a loud farting sound.

Even Lily couldn't help but laugh hysterically "oh this is hilarious" she said clutching at her sides because she had a stitch from laughing too hard.

Lucian had gone over and called the rest of the guys from James's quidditch team and Rose and they were all grouped together laughing at Peter.

"I know zis iz so cruel but it iz so funny" Jean Pierre said laughing hysterically.

Peter's face turned a brilliant shade of red and he hastily paid the bill. The waitress looked at him in disgust. He was covered in green slime and he was farting none too discretely.

He got up quickly and farting all the way, he ran out of the club with patrons of the club looking strangely at his retreating figure.

"I'm going to burn in hell aren't I" Al moaned

"Oh don't worry I'm sure we'll all burn in hell together" Sirius replied chirpily.

"Thanks guys" Lily said "even though I actually thought quidditch players really did want to dance with me, it was nice of you guys to care so much".

James and his gang grinned sheepishly while the quidditch players laughed. "Oh trust me Lily, if you ever want to get together, just owl me" Caleb said.

"Oh no you don't" James said wagging a finger at Lily and glaring at Caleb who shrugged.

"By the way, don't you boys have somewhere to be?" Rose asked glaring at Hugo.

"Err…no I don't think so" Fred replied.

"Let me ask you again" Rose said "don't you boys have somewhere to be?"

"Let me see" Lily said thoughtfully "mum and dad would love to hear about how their eldest son rounded up his brothers and cousins to humiliate Peter in front of many people".

"Oh yes come to think of it, we do have somewhere to be" Albus said suddenly as he eyeballed James.

"Are you girls going to be ok by yourselves?" Caleb asked looking concerned.

"Yeah we should be fine; we're just waiting for two of our friends who are already an hour late"

"Alright, it was nice seeing you ladies" Ajay Ivanova said and he gave a little bow.

"See you guys" Lily said and waved as the men walked out of the club.

"Where are they?" Rose asked no one in particular as she looked at her watch.

They sat down at the table they had reserved. "Ok if they don't show up in five minutes, we can go and join the guys" Lily said.

"Yeah ok" Rose said and ordered another drink.

Just as their drinks arrived Varian slid into a chair opposite Rose and Lily. "Hey baby" he said tiredly. He looked slightly pale and a little shaken.

"You're an hour and fifteen minutes late" Rose lectured.

"Yes Sorry but I'll explain it to you in a minute when Scorp gets back" Varian said.

"Where's he gone?" Rose asked.

"He's gone to the manager to see if the club had a medi kit" Varian replied.

"Oh" Rose said "by the way Varian this is my cousin Lily".

"Hi Lily, I'm Varian. Rose has told me so much about you" he said.

"Really?" Lily asked looking suspiciously at Rose "what kind of things has she told you?"

"Just how you're her favorite cousin and the two of you were so close, things like that" he said shrugging his shoulders. "By the way have you told her yet?" Varian asked turning to Rose.

"Not yet I was kind of waiting till you got here" she said.

"Tell me what?" Lily asked.

"We want you to be my Maid of Honor" Rose said and Lily looked shocked.

"Holy Merlin! Of course I will be your maid of honor, thanks so much!" Lily replied and hugged Rose. "So who's your best man?"

"Well he's- oh here he is. Lily meet Scorpius my best man" he said as Scorpius slid into the seat next to Varian. He was seated directly opposite Lily.

"Hi" Scorpius said pleasantly.

"Hi" she said back.

She could barely make out how he looked because the club was dark. All she had been able to tell was that he was tallish and he had slightly broad shoulders and a lean physique. From where she was sitting, he smelled pretty good too.

"Come on let's dance" Varian said and he pulled Rose to the dance floor.

"You were going to tell me why you were late" Rose said.

"We can tell you later" he said and he dragged Rose off.

Lily was left alone with Scorpius. He wasn't saying anything because he was trying to get the medi kit open.

"Can you manage?" she asked kindly.

"No not really" he said and gave out a laugh "if only we had some light".

"Excuse me" Lily asked a passing waitress "could we get some candles".

"Yea sure" she replied.

"Thanks" Scorpius told Lily.

"No problem" she replied "so what do you do for a living?" she asked conversationally.

"I'm a wizarding lawyer" he replied "what about you?"

"I'm a writer, I used to write for the prophet but it just got too stressful there and there was a lot of office politics that I couldn't handle" she said.

"Mmmm…I agree, the prophet is the worst place for office politics" he replied.

They were interrupted by the waitress bringing them two candelabrums with three huge candles on each.

"Thanks" she said to the waitress and turned back to see that Scorpius was still trying to open the kit. He had his head bent and his longish hair was falling over his face. By the candle light his hair was a pale gold and it reminded her of the pale gold wings of a fairy.

"Got it" he said triumphantly and grinning proudly he looked up at her only to have the grin vanish from his face. She too seemed to be in a state of shock.

"You" she said taking in the sharp nose, gray eyes and blond hair.

"You?" he asked looking at her the way a goldfish would. "What are you"-

"Oh my goodness, you're bleeding" she said as a crimson line caught her eye and he too looked down at his arm.

"Yeah" he replied and began to take out items from the kit".

He had a huge gash in his arm and needed to patch it up and from the looks of things; he obviously didn't know what to do.

"Here let me help you" Lily said and she gently took the kit from him. "Have you already washed the cut?" she asked and he nodded.

She took out the herbalis aloe various potion and using some cotton she dabbed it lightly onto the wound. He made a tiny hissing sound as the potion made contact with the wound. Lily knew it must hurt more than he was letting on and her eyes softened.

"How did you know what to do?" he asked her a few minutes later when she was bandaging his arm.

"I took a healer internship" she said and he nodded.

"Look" he began "the other day we sort of started off on the wrong foot and I was wondering if you wanted to start over. I'm usually not that much of a jerk".

She smiled and nodded "that would be nice".

"Hello my name is Scorpius what's your name?" he asked smiling.

"Hello Scorpius my name is Lily" she said laughing.

"Nice to meet you" he said sticking out his right hand for her to shake then he grimaced and pulled back.

"Careful with that arm" Lily said "too much strain on it and your wound won't heal".

"Thanks" he said and he seemed to look at her for a moment.

"What?" she asked looking suddenly self conscious.

"Nothing" he replied, "it's just that your hair looks like fire in the candle light" he said. Lily looked at him strangely.

"I mean to say that because of the candle flame you're hair looks like fire" he said and suddenly he looked as though he'd said something very stupid.

Lily laughed "oh-Kay" she said.

The two of them fell silent for what seemed like forever when Rose and Varian came back to the table.

"Oh wow, you two should get out there the music is wicked!" Rose panted.

"Yeah man" Varian added.

"Actually maybe now is a good time to explain why you were late" Rose said and Varian immediately put on a serious face.

"Well what happened was, we were supposed to take a portkey that would take us just behind the club and then when we went to the portkey point we were attacked by five hooded figures and many more arriving. Then I stunned two of them and Scorpius stunned two of them and he dueled with one of them. It happened so fast, the one that Scorp was dueling with knocked him to the ground and then he came after me. I thought I was going to die and then Scorp sent a shield charm my way just as the curse was about to hit me. He saved my life" Varian said looking at Scorpius with gratitude.

"It was nothing" Scorpius said being humble "you would have done the same for me".

Lily looked at Scorpius and his eyes met hers. There was something about the way he shrugged off saving Varian's life that Lily admired. He had surprised her in the way he behaved towards her. He was humble, perfectly polite and he hadn't been rude towards her or anything. Maybe she had over reacted the last time they had met. After all if he thought that quidditch players were all brawn and no brains then he was entitled to his own opinion.

"Where did they come from?" Lily asked.

"We're not sure" Scorpius replied, his gray eyes meeting her brown ones.

A fast paced song by the Wailing Banshees was playing and Varian perked up. "Now let's not talk about that, we're here to have fun" he said and he pulled Rose with him to the dance floor.

"So do you want to dance?" Scorpius asked Lily unsure if what he was doing was right.

"Um… yeah sure" she said and stood up, following him onto the dance floor.

She laughed as he began to twirl her around. He smiled at her, his blond hair falling into his eyes. She laughed some more as he began doing crazy moves.

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For the first time in his life Scorpius truly felt like he was having fun. He had never enjoyed himself more. He watched as Lily spun around. Her hair seemed to have a life of it's own as it moved with her. He watched as her face lit up and he felt a jolt in his chest. It was as if her joy had passed on to him.

"Do you want to get a drink?" she asked yelling into his ear. The music was too loud and to be heard, one had to yell.

"Yeah sure" he yelled back and the two of them walked off the dance floor.

Scorpius ordered a butterbeer for Lily and a dragon's blood for himself. When their drinks arrived Lily eagerly took a sip of her butterbeer and Scorpius drank his dragon's blood.

"What is that?" she asked eyeing the strange crimson colored liquid.

"It's a drink, it's kind of like a bloody Mary but it's not. Here, do you want to try a bit?" he asked holding out the glass.

"No I don't think I could" she said shyly.

"Oh go on, it's good" he said and she gave in.

She took a sip of the liquid and made a face "once you get over the initial bit when it burns your throat, it's actually pretty good" she said.

"Yes it's one of my favorite drinks actually" he said as she handed him back the glass.

000

The four of them walked out into the cold air. It was about three in the morning and all four of them were tired. Not to mention the fact that both Rose and Lily had huge blisters on their feet from dancing in highly uncomfortable shoes. Rose and Varian stood a little away. Varian held Rose's hands in his and they were gazing into each other's eyes.

"Let's give them a minute shall we?" Scorpius asked and he walked with Lily further away from the couple.

"I really had fun tonight" he said "I mean excluding the part where some crazy guys in black cloaks nearly killed me and Varian. I can't remember the last time when I enjoyed myself this much" he said.

"Yeah me too" Lily replied and she looked at him.

"We're done saying goodbye" Rose exclaimed as she and Varian hurried over towards Scorpius and Lily.

"So I guess I'll see you around then" Lily said smiling at Scorpius.

"Yeah I guess so" he replied and he really did hope that he would.

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That night Lily dressed and got ready for bed. She kept replaying the night's events over and over in her mind. She smiled giddily as she remembered the way Scorpius twirled her around when they danced. With a dreamy sigh she fell back onto her bed and closed her eyes and soon thoughts of a young man with pale gold hair and intense stormy gray eyes consumed her.

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Scorpius smiled as he took off his clothes and changed into black silk pajama bottoms. He had had a wonderful night, save for the part when he got attacked. He gently traced a finger over his bandaged arm, remembering the way Lily's soft fingers felt on his flesh. He grinned as he got under the covers, at least he would see her again.

A/N: Ok I am so sorry for taking so long. But hey, at least it's a really long chapter! I've actually just gotten back from Thailand and Cambodia and I'm starting my new job tomorrow so I've had very little time because I've had to prepare for work and everything.. So hope you like this chapter and it would be really appreciated if you could review!! Thanks take care!


	4. chance meetings and family gatherings

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Chapter 4**

Scorpius Malfoy woke up the next day full of life and energy. It was a cool Sunday morning and he was surprised that he wasn't tired although he'd gotten back home late. Sunday was usually his favorite day. It was the day when he got to rest, relax and recuperate from that week's events. He was in a great mood; this was particularly due to the events of the previous night. He touched his bandaged arm gingerly and smiled to himself He had showered and changed and was looking through some of his files for work.

He had been organizing his files for a while now when he came across a picture of her. Her long dark brown hair and her blue eyes seemed so foreign to him. Her cheerful smile made his heart ache and he felt a longing inside like never before.

"Where are you? I miss you" he said touching the picture gently. It was at though he was trying to touch her through the picture, desperately reaching out for something that had already slipped through his grasp. He stared at the picture for a few minutes when a knock on his door interrupted him.

"Come in" he called and it wasn't long before his father's face came into view.

"Scorpius, are you ready? We're leaving in ten minutes" Draco said.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"Scorpius I hope you haven't forgotten that today is Sunday. You know we go to grandmother and grandfather's house for lunch every Sunday" Draco said looking annoyed. The happiness that Scorpius had been feeling just a while before had now disappeared.

"No father I haven't" Scorpius replied diligently.

Catching sight of Scorpius's bandaged arm Draco asked "What's happened to your arm Scorpius?"

"Oh" he said looking down at his arm "I hurt it at the club, banged my arm into a table" he lied.

"Ok well don't forget to be down soon" Draco said and smoothed out his clothes.

"Yes father" he said emotionlessly "I'll be down in five".

"Good" Draco replied nodding "and don't be late".

000

Lunch with Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy was always silent and awkward for Scorpius. He just never knew what to say. Although he was in his twenties, around his grandparents he felt like her was a child again and not in a good way. His grandfather always drank too much during their visits and Scorpius and his family always ended up leaving early. Scorpius by a stroke of bad luck ended up opposite his grandparents. It wasn't his grandmother that he minded. She was strict but she loved him and always treated him well. It was his grandfather that he detested.

"So darling, how are you" Narcissa asked him between dainty bites of her steak.

"I'm fine grandmother how are you? Father told me that you weren't well last week which was why we had to cancel lunch but are you better now?" he asked looking at her with concern.

"Oh yes dear, I'm fine. It was just a migraine" she said and smiled lovingly at her only grandson.

"That's good to hear grandmother" Scorpius said and went back to his food.

"How is your case going boy?" Lucius asked him pouring himself a generous glass of firewhisky. He swirled his glass around and the ice cubes made a clinking sound.

"It's going fine grandfather, although we don't have any evidence to prosecute just as yet but I'm working on it" he said and Lucius looked thoughtful.

"I see, now Scorpius Blaise Zabini dropped in today and he told me something very interesting" Lucius said downing his glass of firewhisky and looking carefully at him.

Dread pooled in Scorpius's stomach as he anticipated what his grandfather was going to say next. Draco and Narcissa looked on anxiously while Pansy appeared to be indifferent.

"What did he tell you grandfather?" he asked keeping his voice calm as he watched his grandfather pour himself another glass of the amber liquid.

"Blaise told me that you and Varian were attacked by a group of wizards" Lucius said and Draco looked alarmed.

"Scorpius what is the meaning of this?" his father asked and Lucius smirked as he drank his whisky.

"Its true father we did get attacked but I held them off"-

"You only stunned them" Lucius said snidely.

"Yes I did stun them and then I managed to get Varian and myself out of there in time before the rest came" Scorpius said defensively.

"When did this happen?" Draco asked sitting up straighter in his seat.

"Last night before we went out" Scorpius answered with a sigh.

"What did Varian do?" Draco asked.

"He distracted two of them and then stunned them while I stunned two others and dueled one more" he said looking at his plate.

"Oh poor dear" Narcissa said sympathetically "that must have been horrible for you" she said and Scorpius didn't answer.

"How did you escape?" Draco asked.

"When I was dueling the last one, he sent me flying to the ground with a tripping hex. Then he went for Varian and I managed to stun him, then when we saw more of them coming out of the clearing, I summoned the portkey and portkeyed us out of the clearing" he said and looked at his grandfather's reaction.

Lucius merely looked at Scorpius with a bored expression on his face. It was like he wasn't impressed at all or even proud that his grandson managed to hold his own in a fight and save someone's life. Draco on the other hand looked at Scorpius as though he was seeing his son in a new light.

"Good" Draco said and leant back into his chair. Scorpius smiled to himself. From his father that one word meant a lot.

Lucius scoffed "good? Draco it seems your expectations of your son have diminished somewhat". Draco looked blankly at Lucius.

"All your son did was stun a few people in robes. What he should have done was killed them. Why didn't you kill them boy?" Lucius asked and this time Draco, Scorpius and Narcissa all looked up.

"I couldn't" Scorpius said and he looked up in shock.

"You couldn't kill them?" Lucius asked rage laced with his words. Scorpius shook his head looking down.

"Than you have disappointed me and you have disgraced your father" Lucius spat and Scorpius glanced at his father who looked away. "You are weaker that I thought you were". Scorpius didn't say anything although he felt everything. _Never fight fire with fire_ She had told him with her blue eyes sparkling but she was gone now.

"There were too many of them grandfather and my most important thought was getting us out of there" he said.

"No the most important thing was to make sure that they would never mess with you again!" Lucius yelled as he downed a glass of firewhisky.

"Father"- Draco said warningly.

"What? What is it? Are you going to give me some excuse? Make up some pathetic dribble for your son? You know why he's so weak Draco?" Lucius asked and Draco didn't answer. "It's his poor upbringing, you haven't taught him anything" Lucius rasped.

"Lucius"- Narcissa said looking horrified.

"Quiet Narcissa, Draco has to be told" he said and then turned to his son. "You have shamed me, your son has shamed me and you have become pathetic Draco" Lucius said as he downed yet another glass of whiskey.

"Father, listen to yourself" Draco said firmly. Scorpius looked at his father with curiosity; he had never seen Draco ever stand up to his grandfather before.

Lucius laughed mirthlessly. "Draco, Draco, Draco" he said shaking his head. "This really is your fault you know".

"Father, you don't know what you're talking about. You've drunk too much" Draco said narrowing his eyes at the older man.

Lucius laughed maliciously "oh have I? Or am I just voicing the truth that you're all afraid to speak" he said and Draco glared at him with such rage that Scorpius thought the old man was going to burst into flames.

"Father stop this rubbish" Draco said and threw his napkin onto the table.

"I thought when you married her you'd change Draco" Lucius said slurring as he pointed to Pansy. "But you're still the same weak son of a bitch now as you were then". Draco had gone stark white and his hands were shaking.

"You couldn't kill Dumbledore then, you couldn't kill Harry Potter and you couldn't raise your son properly" Lucius spat.

"Au contraire father, I'd rather not raise Scorpius well, if it means raising him to be like you" Draco replied.

"It was that mudblood that caused this, you changed after you married her" Lucius said laughing sardonically.

"Father!" Draco shouted standing up.

"Oh Draco, you misguided fool. You think by shouting you're going to stop me. You've become just like that mudblood fool you fell in love with, pathetic" Lucius said and this time it was Scorpius who was by Lucius's side in a heartbeat with his wand held against his throat.

"Call my mother that one more time and I will hex you into oblivion despite the fact that you are my grandfather" Scorpius gritted.

"Scorpius, don't" his grandmother pleaded "he's not worth it". Looking at her lovely face, he released his grandfather and lowered his wand. He walked over to his grandmother, kissed her on the cheek and walked out of the room.

Lucius sank into his chair and began laughing maniacally. "That's right boy, walk away. Walk away like your mudblood mother. Know why she walked away from you? Because she knew you were destined to be a failure. You even got kicked out of the auror department before even graduating to become an auror. She too knew what a disappointment you'd grow up to be" Lucius remarked.

Scorpius walked out of his grandparents' house feeling like an icy fist had been clamped over his heart. He knew that he had no reason to be angry because he should have known better. All that talk about his mother being a mudblood was just to get him riled up and so that he would react. Lucius merely wanted someone that he could pick a fight with.

According to Draco, Lucius never used to be like this. Sure he was strict and firm but he had loved his son very much. After the war, Lucius had become a shell of his former self. His whole conspiracy with the dark lord had failed and when Voldermort was killed, he had been sentenced to fourteen years in Azkaban. It was there that a drastic change had taken place within him. It got even worse when he received word that his only son had married a mudblood. Later when Draco had shown up at cell number 217 with a pretty young wife and a new born son, Lucius turned them away and retreated into a darkened corner of his cell.

The first time Scorpius had seen his grandfather was when he was seven years old. He remembered the year he had turned seven all so clearly. It was the year when he had gained a grandfather and lost a mother. As a child he'd resented his grandfather thinking that because his grandfather came, his mother went. Though as he got older, his father had explained that it was nobody's fault that his mother had gone but rather it was hers. Scorpius still remembered the day she had left, he didn't understand it then but now it made perfect sense.

_Flashback_

_He was seated on the wide spiral steps of the Malfoy mansion clutching his toy basilisk. His mother was at the foot of the stairs with a suitcase in tow. _

"_Astoria please don't leave" Draco pleaded. "I need you, Scorp needs you"._

"_I'm sorry Draco" she said sadly and glanced at Scorpius._

'_No, don't say that" Draco yelled "just stay please. I don't know how to take care of Scorp on my own"._

"_You'll manage" she said and her eyes glistened with unshed tears._

"_Why are you doing this Astoria?" he asked and stepping forward he cupped her face in his hands._

"_I have to Draco" she said "I need to be away from all this for a while. It's getting too much and besides it's for the best"._

"_I love you" he said softly and she looked up at him in surprise. Draco had never before uttered those words to her. She looked into his face and saw the sincerity and truth in those grey spheres._

"_I can't" was all she said._

_Draco stepped back, his hands dropping to his sides. He looked defeated, broken and most of all helpless. Astoria Greengrass picked up her suitcase and with heaviness in her heart she made her way slowly out the door. Young Scorpius ran down the steps nearly tripping in his haste to get to his mother. His eyes were focused only on her and dropping his stuffed basilisk toy, he was about to leap into his mother's arms when Draco caught him and picked him up. Carrying his son with him he walked after his wife and stopped at the front door. His hurt had morphed into rage and he shouted after her._

"_Go on you can leave us. We don't need you; we'll be just fine on our own. Just remember it's not me whom you walked out on. You walked out on this family. This relationship and most importantly you walked out on your son!"_

_Astoria didn't turn around. She merely walked on as if in slow motion, down the gravel path where a car waited for her. Though if she had turned around, Draco and Scorpius would have seen her tear streaked face and the evident pain it was causing her to walk out on her family._

_When the huge double doors of the Malfoy mansion had closed, Draco set Scorpius down. Once free from his father, Scorpius went flying straight at the doors but it was too late._

"_Mummy!" he called. "Mummy! Mummy! Mummy!" but his mother wasn't coming back. Scorpius ran back to his father._

"_Dad, where is mummy going? Is she going to come back?" he asked Draco who seemed to be struggling to find the correct words to say._

"_Scorpius, son, your mother is going away for a while. She's going on a holiday and she'll come back soon don't you worry" Draco had told him and as Scorpius looked into his father's eyes as a seven year old, he knew that his father wanted to believe that too._

_Scorpius held out his hands and his father picked him up. Together the two of them walked over to the toy basilisk that lay on the floor and Draco picked it up and gave it to Scorpius. Scorpius took the stuffed toy and hugging it close to his chest, he buried his head in the crook of his father's neck._

"_I miss mummy" Scorpius said as Draco carried him upstairs to his room._

"_I know you do" Draco said "but all you've got now is daddy"._

"_If I'm a good boy and if I don't do anything bad will mummy come back?" _

"_I'm not sure Scorpius" Draco replied looking away._

"_But then who's going to read me a bed time story and tuck me into bed and scare the giants away?" Scorpius asked looking up at his father with teary gray eyes._

"_I guess I'll have to do it for you" Draco said and he changed Scorpius into pajamas and tucked him into bed._

"_Why did mummy go away?" Scorpius asked his father as Draco pulled the duvet over his body._

"_Well mummy is quite stressed, she had a hard job and she can't really balance both her job and us" Draco tried to explain._

"_What job does mummy have?"_

"_Mummy is an auror and a really good one at that. She usually does undercover missions and she does it to keep us all safe" _

"_I'm going to be an auror when I grow up" Scorpius said proudly "just like mummy"._

"_Yes son, you do that" Draco said and watched his son._

"_I'm glad I have you daddy" Scorpius whispered sleepily as he cuddled Bazzy the Basilisk. Draco didn't reply. He was staring the little boy now asleep on the bed, wondering what he was going to do._

"_Come now Draco, you don't need her" came a voice from the doorway of Scorpius's bedroom. "See how she lied to you. She told you she was a pureblood but she is actually a muggle born, taken in by a pureblood family". He wrinkled his nose at the thought._

"_Father" Draco said "what do I do now?"_

"_You have us now" Lucius said "Your mother and I will be here for you every step of the way" he said and he half smirked half smiled at Draco._

_End of flashback_

000

When Scorpius got older, he realized that his mother had left them and was never coming back and to his great dismay so was his father. Sure his father was physically there for him but the father who had promised to read to him a bedtime story and tuck him into bed at night was now no more than a mere memory.

He couldn't remember how it had happened but just that it did. His father had become cold and distant towards him and he would spend all his spare time down at the pub or in his study and library. It was his grandmother who had practically raised him and till today he was grateful for her. It was later in the year when Scorpius's life as he knew it, began to change dramatically. His father had married Pansy Parkinson on Lucius's suggestion and as a result had become even more distant. He now played less with his son and buried himself in his work. At the time little Scorpius couldn't understand that his father just couldn't bear to play with him because when Draco saw Scorpius, he knew he couldn't look his son in the eye whenever Scorpius asked about Astoria.

At first, when he was seven, Scorpius recalled feeling confused and puzzled about his mother's departure. Then when he was a teen, he felt betrayed and hurt and he detested his mother and everything that reminded him of her especially his name. Astoria had loved the name Scorpius and had chosen it for him and he hated it because of that. At Hogwarts he even made his friends call him by his middle name, Orion because he couldn't stand to be reminded of his mother. But now as an adult the hatred that he had once felt for his mother had faded away and left him with a dull throbbing ache for her. He had realized that it was stupid to try and erase her from his memory and had decided that he was not going to pretend that he didn't miss her. He joined the auror department because she had an auror and it was what he loved.Once he was in the department he had asked his superiors if they had known an Astoria Greengrass but none of them knew who or where she was. It was like she had disappeared from the face of this earth.

He tried not to think about all that had happened when he was younger; it just brought back more pain. But although Scorpius and his father had been hurt by Astoria leaving, they would never speak an ill word about her and nor would they allow anyone else to. Scorpius still remembered the flowery scent of her chocolate locks and the twinkle in her blue eyes when she read to him. He remembered her reading to him stories from muggle fairytales and tucking him into bed and making a great show of scaring the acromantulas from under his bed. Deep down somewhere within him, he knew that his mother loved him. He just needed to find her to prove it. But the question was where to start?

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It had been a week since Lily had gone to the dancing unicorn. It was a cool Saturday morning and she was bustling around the kitchen and humming to herself. It was roughly about seven thirty in the morning and nobody in the house was up. Not even Kreacher. She was making French toast and the smell seemed to be wafting all over the house. It didn't take long before James's nose had led him to the source of the smell.

"Morning" he said letting out a yawn "why are you up so early?" he asked.

"Good morning" Lily said cheerfully "I just felt like making something besides, I have too much energy to be wasting my time by sleeping".

"Ah huh" James said sleepily as she gave him a good morning hug. "So what are you making?" he asked seating himself at the counter top clad only in his boxers.

"Waffles, pancakes, bacon and eggs, sausages, toast and whatever else tickles your fancy big brother" she said brightly.

"My, my, you really are in a good mood aren't you?" he asked and she nodded humming cheerfully to herself. James eyed her suspiciously.

"You haven't talked to Caleb lately have you?" he asked casually although he seemed to be looking at her strangely.

"No" she replied and continued humming to herself.

"What about Chase? Have you talked to him?" he asked.

"No".

"Alex?"

"Eww! And to answer your question, no".

"So who did you talk to? Which quidditch player is it?" He asked looking at her expectantly "Lils I'm telling you now, if it's someone from a team other than the Tornados it'll break my heart".

"It's no one and it's definitely not a quidditch player" she said looking at him with her brows furrowed.

"No way, there has to be a reason why you're so happy and it's got to be a guy" he said frowning at her.

"It- is- not- a- guy" she said slowly as though he was stupid. And with a fed up sigh, she went back to her cooking.

"Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!" he said and Lily was about to say something very rude to him when her father walked into the kitchen.

"James, what are you bothering your sister about? Just leave her alone and mind your own business".

"Thank you daddy" she said and came over to kiss him good morning. She stuck her tongue out at James who rolled his eyes.

"Dad, come on would you just look at her?" he remarked gesturing to his sister while Harry raised his eyebrows.

"Why? What's wrong with her?" Harry asked looking at his only daughter carefully.

"It's just that firstly she's overly happy, secondly she's bloody cooking I mean how often does that happen and thirdly she's humming that god awful song that you and mum danced to at your wedding. You know I still think we shouldn't have shown her your wedding video" James said and Harry looked between James's blinking face and Lily humming to herself while flipping pancakes.

"Hmm you do have a point there James" he said and approached his daughter.

"Lily' he said "what are you doing?" he asked as he stood beside his daughter.

"I'm just cooking daddy" she said and held up the pan in which she was now frying bacon.

"Mmmm it smells great darling but why are you cooking? You never cook!" he said as a matter of fact.

She glared at him and resumed flipping pancakes and frying bacon. "I just feel like it ok?" she said.

"Who is he?" Harry asked and she looked at him.

"What are you talking about daddy?" she asked.

"Well since you're in such a great mood we assume it must be a guy" Harry said shrugging his shoulders.

"There is no guy daddy" Lily said "I'm just in a good mood".

"Ok if you say so" Harry muttered and sat down to a breakfast of scrambles eggs, sausages, bacon and waffles.

"Wow something sure smells good" Albus said as he came into the kitchen.

"What's cooking?" Al asked James.

"I think you mean who's cooking" James replied and gestured to Lily who was bent over the stove.

"Oh Merlin!" Al exclaimed "Lil is cooking? Something's definitely wrong there".

"Ummm hmmm" James said in agreement.

"So Lils" Al said casually as he approached her "it must be a guy, so who is it? I hope it's not one of James's brainless quidditch mates".

If looks could kill, Albus would have been dead in an instant. "What is wrong with everyone?" she yelled. "I'm just in a good mood ok! So for the last time, THERE IS NO GUY!" She yelled "I swear to god if someone asks me that one more time I'm going to bloody explode.

"Ok, ok" Al mumbled "I only asked sheesh. Don't have to get all mental about it. By the way Lils can I have blueberry pancakes?"

James, Harry and Albus were all sitting down for breakfast when Sirius showed up. "Well, well, well, what do we have here? Lily in the kitchen cooking breakfast!" he remarked.

The rest seemed to send silent vibes to the dark haired youth trying to get him to keep his mouth shut. Unfortunately, Sirius being Sirius didn't get any of the hints or the glares and looks that were coming his way.

"So Lils" Sirius said "what's his name and where does he live?"

Lily looked up slowly from the pancake batter that she was stirring. "What did you say?" she asked dangerously and the other men in the room held their breaths.

"There's got to be a guy right, I mean I haven't seen you cooking in the kitchen since Peter, so who is he?"

"ARGH!" Lily yelled and in her frustration she knocked the batter bowl to the floor. She stomped past her father and brothers and when she met her mother at the entrance to the kitchen she said "I can't take this anymore I'm going for a walk".

Everyone in the kitchen glared at Sirius. He looked back at them innocently. "What?" he asked. "Was it something I said?"

"Way to go wanker, you just cost me my blueberry pancakes" Al said and smacked Sirius on the back on his head.

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Scorpius walked up the stone path to Zabini family mansion. He was met at the door by Varian's father Blaise Zabini who was really good friends with his father.

"Hello Mr. Zabini, off to work?" he said eyeing the briefcase in the older man's hand.

"Yes and as a matter of fact I'm kind of running late, so I'll talk to you later Scorpius" he said and rushed out the door. When Scorpius turned around Blaise Zabini had already disapprated.

"Varian?" Scorpius called upon entering the huge mansion.

"Scorp is that you?" Varian asked.

"Yeah" Scorpius called back as he walked around the living room.

"I'll be down in a minute, play with Merlin please. He's been dying for someone to play catch with".

No sooner had Varian said that when a medium sized ball of fur came bounding over and nearly knocked Scorpius to the floor.

"Hello Merlin" Scorpius greeted patting the golden retriever puppy who was trying desperately to lick his face.

"Arf! Arf Arf! Arf!" Merlin barked.

"Where's the ball Merlin! Give Scorpie the ball" Scorpius said and Merlin scampered to the corner of the room where a little squeaky ball lay. He then ran back and dropped the ball into Scorpius's palm. "Clever boy Merlin! Now catch!" Scorpius threw the ball as far as he could and Merlin bounded over to get it, nearly knocking over Mrs. Zabini's priceless Ming vase in the process.

"Clever boy" Scorpius cooed rubbing Merlin behind the ears. Yes you are you're a clever boy aren't you? That's right, who's a clever pup?"

From in front of Scorpius came deep bubbling laughter. "So it really is true what they say, people are often different around dogs".

"Shut up Blaise. You do realize that I play with Merlin more than you do right?" Scorpius jibed.

"Yeah" Blaise replied then turning to Merlin he said "but that's because he loves his uncle Scorpie yes he does" and the puppy barked in agreement.

Scorpius laughed "when you say that, it somehow makes us sound like we're married".

"Oh I forgot to tell you" Varian said straightening up "can we catch up a little later instead because my mum needs me to pick up a few things from Diagon Alley. It's for that dinner party thingy that she's having in two weeks and Rose needs to talk to me about something important".

"Yeah sure I don't mind, I don't have anywhere else to be".

"Ok I tell you what. How about you take Merlin to the park for a while and then I'll come and meet you later".

Scorpius raised his eyebrows "let me guess, you've been too 'busy' to take Merlin out for a walk yourself so you want me to do it for you?"

"Yes" Varian replied looking sheepish. He turned to look at the puppy which was sniffing around the floor and had stopped at the piano, lifted up his hind leg and showered the piano. "Aww Merlin! Not the piano!" he moaned.

"Here I'll take care of it" Scorpius said laughing "_tergeo_" he said and the pee vanished.

"Darn pup not potty trained" Varian cursed. "That takes away the pee but not the smell" he said gloomily, "I'm going to have to scrub the piano later".

"He's just three months old" Scorpius said as he stroked a very unfazed Merlin.

"Ok so please Scorp I really need Merlin to go for a walk, it's important that he gets his exercise".

"Yeah, yeah ok I'll do it" Scorpius said and Varian beamed.

"Thanks Scorp you're a true friend" Varian told him and summoned Merlin's leash. The puppy wagged its tail enthusiastically.

"Alright" Scorpius sighed and rolled his eyes at Varian. "Come on Merlin" he said turning to the puppy, "let's go take you for that walk".

The puppy bounded over to the front door and leaped outside as fast as you could say Merlin! They walked all the way down the long gravel path from the Zabini manor till they came to a main square. It was mostly deserted and those that seemed to be hanging around were muggles. Merlin trotted along proudly beside Scorpius who was lost. He didn't know which way to go and there were no directions at all as to where the nearest park would be so he stopped a muggle and asked him.

"Excuse me sir" he said "Would you happen to know where the nearest park is?"

"Oh yes" the elderly man spluttered as he scratched his enormous gut "you make a left turn here and you go straight and then make another left turn and you should arrive at Grimmauld park" he said.

"Oh right, thanks" Scorpius said and he and Merlin headed in the direction of Grimmauld park. "Come on Merlin" he said tugging on the leash "let's go play".

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Lily had already counted to a hundred and still she hadn't cooled down yet. Her family was being incredibly frustrating today or maybe she was just being a little touchy. She was in such a great mood when she had woken up. Then the moment her family showed up, it all went downhill. She herself didn't know why she was in such a good mood, she couldn't explain it. But ever since the night at the dancing unicorn she didn't know why but she felt happier as though she was walking on air. Maybe it was because it was the first time in a long while that she had had fun. But she didn't know why and she realized it didn't matter that she didn't know, as long as she had that feeling for the rest of her life, she would be fine. She walked along the lake in Grimmauld Park. It was the first place that she thought of coming to because she had always loved it as a child. When she was younger her mother and father would take James, Al, her and baby Sirius to the park to play. Of course Sirius was only an infant at the time and so he had to lie in his pram while the others played. But as they got older, James stopped going to the park, than Al then even her parents and Sirius stopped going but she didn't.

Sure she didn't come as often as she used to but she still came. When she needed to think, write or let off some steam she always sat on a bench by the lake and looking at the rippling water always made her feel calmer. She smiled as a muggle child walked up next to her and sat on the bench beside her.

"Hi there" the little girl said.

"Hello" Lily replied as she turned to the little girl.

"What's your name?" the child asked "mine is Carrie" she said and smiled shyly at Lily.

"That's a very nice name" Lily said kindly "my name is Lily".

"Lily? That's a very pretty name" Carrie replied.

"Why thank you, where's your mummy?" she asked and Carrie looked thoughtful.

"I'm not sure, the last I saw her she was by the swings" Carrie replied "I just left her because I wanted to come and sit with you".

"How old are you anyway?" Lily asked and Carrie held out six fingers.

"Six?"

"Yep I'm six" Carrie said proudly.

"I see" Lily replied.

"Your hair is pretty" Carrie remarked staring at Lily's deep red locks with fascination.

"Thank you Carrie" Lily replied.

"It makes you look like an angel".

Lily laughed "why thank you, although I'm not really an angel. I wish I was though, I could fly" she said and Carrie nodded. Out of the blue, a worried voice called out.

"Carrie! Oh my goodness Carrie I was so worried about you. Why did you leave me? Next time don't do that to mummy ok?" a woman with blond hair said as she hugged her daughter.

"I'm ok mummy" Carrie said.

"I'm sorry, she just likes exploring by herself" the woman replied and took Carrie's hand and began to lead her away.

"Bye Lily!" Carrie called out and Lily smiled and waved at the child.

She laughed to herself and went back to staring at the water. There were some young boys a little distance away throwing pebbles into the lake and Lily loved how they disturbed the peace of the water, causing little ripples. She took a deep breath and exhaled with a sigh. She closed her eyes as the wind caressed her face and thought of a poem that she knew well and before she knew it, she was reciting it out aloud.

"**It lies not in our power to love or hate,  
for will in us is overruled by fate.  
When two are stripped, long ere the course begin,  
we wish that one should love, the other win;  
And one especially do we affect  
of two gold ingots, like in each respect:**

**The reason no man knows, let it suffice"  
**

"What we behold is censured by our eyes,"came another voice from beside her. She looked sharply at the man who had spoken and her lips curved into a small smile.

"Where both deliberate, the love is slight:"she retorted smoothly and she saw his lips form a smirk.

"Who ever loved, that loved not at first sight?" he finished and smiled at her.

"Hello Scorpius" she said smiling at him, her chocolate eyes twinkling. He looked the same as she remembered. His blond hair reflecting sunlight making him look ethereal. His gray eyes seemed to mirror the kindness and warmth of his soul. "What are you doing here?"

"Hello Lily, I'm taking Varian's puppy for a walk" he said pointing to the puppy who was using his paws to try and catch fish from the lake. "So you like that poem huh?" he asked "Whoever loved that loved not at first sight, interesting title isn't it?"

"Yeah it is, it's by"-

"Christopher Marlowe" he interrupted.

She looked up at him in shock "how do you know this poem?' she asked.

"Well" he said as he sat down on the bench beside her "at our house, my father used to have a library and my mother used to love poetry books. We collected so many that I lost count of how many we've got, the poem was in one of the books that we have. Ever since I read it, I loved it and memorized it".

Lily laughed and Scorpius frowned at her. "You memorized it?" she asked incredulously.

"Yeah, I was like thirteen at the time. I thought it might impress girls if I recited a love poem besides it was one of my favorites" he said and she laughed yet again.

"Oh Scorpius, if it makes you feel any better I'm certainly impressed" she said as she snorted with laughter and even he grinned.

"Ok I know it was kind of weird but as a kid I really thought that was what guys did to impress girls" they began laughing again and were cut short by a bundle of fur leaping onto Scorpius and desperately trying to lick Lily on the face.

"Whoa there" Lily said as she stroked the puppy. "What's your name little one?"

"It's Merlin" Scorpius replied.

"Hello Merlin, who's a cute little doggie" Lily cooed rubbing him behind the ears.

"Arf! Arf! Arf!"

"So what brings you out here" Scorpius asked turning to face her.

"I just needed to be away from the house for a little while. My family was driving me crazy".

"Oh I see, well I'm here doing Varian a favor by taking Merlin for a walk. The poor guy doesn't get out much because Varian is always working" he said.

"Ah right" she said and her stomach gave a loud rumble.

"Hungry?" Scorpius asked raising his eyebrows ever so slightly.

"Kind of" she replied sheepishly and two pink spots appeared on her cheeks.

"Come on let's get something to eat" he said and he pulled Merlin who trotted happily beside them. She followed him placing her hands in the pockets of her jeans. She didn't know what to do, should she follow him? Or should she make up an excuse and leave? But upon seeing his grinning face she decided to stay, besides Merlin was just too cute to resist too.

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Scorpius was still in shock. He couldn't' believe his luck. He had come to the park with the sole intention of taking Merlin for a walk and letting him run around when he had seen a familiar flash of crimson. There weren't many people with that colored hair and Scorpius only knew one person who had hair of that particular shade of red. He let Merlin roam around while he approached the person. To his great surprise he heard her reciting one of his favorite poems by Christopher Marlowe. He couldn't resist, he wasn't normally a show off but in this case, he really wanted to impress her.

They sat there talking for a while and Scorpius wanted to ask her if she wanted to grab a bite with him but there wasn't an opportune moment to ask. He finally got the opportunity when he heard her stomach rumble.

"Do you want to get a bite to eat?" he asked and she hesitated for a while before replying.

"Ok" she said and with Merlin leading the way, Scorpius and Lily walked over to a vendor selling freshly made pretzels.

"So which one do you want?" he asked as they stood in front of the cart.

"I think I'll have the cinnamon and vanilla one" Lily replied.

"I'll have the plain cinnamon" Scorpius told the vendor "and a plain pretzel for my friend here", he said gesturing to Merlin who was sitting obediently. As the vendor was making the pretzels, Lily fished into her pockets for some money.

"No, please let me" Scorpius said as he noticed Lily rummaging for money.

"Oh no I couldn't let you pay for my pretzel, I mean let me pay for my share at least" she said still looking for her money.

"I insist, please let me. It is only proper for a man to pay for a woman and it's not as if I'm buying you dinner at some fancy restaurant, it's just a pretzel" he said and she laughed.

"What era are you living in? Haven't you heard of double dutch?" she asked. "We split the bill in half" she said and he frowned.

"That would not be very polite as I asked you to come and get a bite with me. Besides my father always raised me in the ways of the gentlemen and a gentleman always pays for a lady" Scorpius said seriously.

"Ok then if you insist" Lily replied and shrugged her shoulders while the pretzel vendor looked on with an eyebrow raised.

After Scorpius paid the vendor and had given Merlin his plain pretzel, he and Lily went back to the bench by the lake.

"Thanks" she replied gesturing to her pretzel.

"No problem" he said taking a huge bite of his cinnamon flavored pretzel. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. He turned his face and saw her looking at him.

"What?" he asked looking suddenly self- conscious. "Do I have something on my face?" he asked and she laughed. Smiling widely, she shook her head. "Whew" he said in relief "for a moment I thought I had something on my face and that would have been embarrassing".

They sat there in silence till they finished their pretzels. "Thanks for the pretzel" Lily said when she had finished hers.

"It's no problem" Scorpius replied and Merlin who had finished his long ago looked at Scorpius pathetically and made a whining noise at the back of his throat. Scorpius laughed "you can whine all you like but you're not getting anymore Merlin". The puppy looked up at him paced up and down for a few seconds and then walked over to Scorpius and lifted up his hind leg.

"Uh-oh" Lily said looking slightly disgusted.

"Merlin no! Don't do it Merlin! Sit pup!" Scorpius ordered but Merlin didn't listen and Scorpius was given a shower of blessing by the puppy.

Lily burst out laughing while Scorpius groaned. Merlin went back to sitting quietly and wagging his tail. "My shoes!" Scorpius exclaimed. "These were 500 galleon shoes" he told the puppy who seemed unphased and wagged his tail with gusto. Lily put a hand over her mouth and giggled and Scorpius looked at her accusingly.

"And I suppose you think this is funny" he asked and she nodded, her giggles turning into full fledged laughter.

"This isn't funny, it's hilarious" Lily said snorting with laughter and even Scorpius grinned.

"I suppose it is a little funny" he said and Merlin barked in agreement.

"Tergeo" Scorpius said, discretely pointing his wand at his pee drenched shoe. "According to Varian that spell only takes the pee away, and not the smell. I'm going to have to scrub it later" he said.

When Lily had stopped laughing, she looked at Scorpius raking her eyes over his face. Scorpius looked startled as she leaned closer to him and stood on her tip toes and picked out a leaf that had landed on his head.

"You had a leaf in your hair" she said gently holding out the leaf.

"Oh, thanks" he said and forced himself to think of horrible thoughts like kittens being drowned in a well or Voldermort in a frilly nightdress. A certain part of him was getting excited that should not be getting excited.

She smiled up at him and he realized that they were still standing close together. Think of Voldermort in a frilly nightdress he told himself. It wasn't working. Think of Pansy drowning helpless kittens. That seemed to work and he smiled with relief. He hastily took a step back; being in such close proximity with Lily wasn't too good for him.

"Anyway" she said putting her hands in her jeans pockets. "I'd better be heading back home. My parents would be worried about me and my Uncle, Aunt and cousins would be visiting in a while" she said and she smiled. Her brown eyes lighting up as she spoke.

"Yes sure it's ok" Scorpius replied "I'd better be taking Merlin for a proper walk too" he said.

"See you Scorpius" she said and to his great surprise, hugged him.

Think of Pansy drowning kittens, grandfather in a tutu he kept saying to himself. "Bye Lily; it was great seeing you again".

"Yeah it was great seeing you too, we should do this again sometime" she told him and he brightened. "See you Merlin" she said bending down and patting the cheerful looking puppy.

"Yeah just say the word and I'm there".

"Ok" she said and laughed "bye".

"Bye" he called back. He watched for a while as she walked away from him. He too turned away when he heard her voice call out to him.

"Scorpius?" she called.

"Yeah?"

"I had a good time" she said and he smiled.

"Me too" he replied and she beamed.

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Lily got back to number 12 Grimmauld place with a giddy smile on her face. She had had an incredible morning.

"Lily thank goodness where were you? We've been looking for you for ages" Harry said reaching out to hug her.

"Yeah we thought you ran away" Sirius replied coming over to hug Lily. "Don't ever do that to us again" he said and burrowed his face in her hair.

"Yeah, yeah that's enough drama queen" Harry said and Sirius moved away, pretending to wipe away crocodile tears from his face.

Lily rolled her eyes "it's a miracle he has a girlfriend" she muttered and Harry's head snapped up and he looked interested.

"What was that Lil?" he asked and Lily realized with horror what she had said out aloud.

"Nothing, I said it's a miracle he has any friends" she replied.

"Oh".

"So where is mum?" she asked her father.

"She's in the kitchen preparing lunch, James and Al are over at Uncle Ron's surfing the net with Hugo".

"Right" Lily said and she mentally snickered knowing just exactly what they were surfing for, "but I thought they were coming over for lunch" Lily asked.

"Yeah they are, apparently Ron and Hermione have some big news that they want to tell everyone, well actually mostly it's Aunt Hermione who wants to share this news with everyone. So not only are they coming but they've invited Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur, Uncle Charlie and Aunt Nadia, Uncle Percy and Aunt Penelope, and Uncle George and Aunt Katie. Oh and did I mention all the cousins are coming as are Mr. and Mrs. Granger and Grandma and Grandpa Weasley".

"All of them are coming here? She asked looking incredulous and slightly worried.

"Yeah" Harry replied absent mindedly as he flipped through the daily prophet.

"Why can't they have it in Uncle Ron's house?" Lily asked.

"Well our house is slightly bigger than Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione's house so they suggested having it here" Harry said looking at Lily through his glasses.

"Oh I see" she said feeling a little annoyed. It wasn't that she hated having her family over, it was just that she had this thing about invasion of personal space and that's what the Weasley family unintentionally tended to do.

Ginny came rushing into the living room where Harry and Lily were talking and she looked a little stressed.

"They're almost here and I haven't even done the strawberry pie!" she exclaimed "And Kreacher is already doing the roast".

"Don't worry mum, I'll help you" Lily assured.

"Mum can I help too?" came Sirius's voice from the next room.

"No!" Ginny said sternly "the last time I let you help me make the apple pie, you put mayonnaise in it. Everyone went home feeling ill".

"It was just the one time" Sirius muttered. "Besides I thought it was fresh cream!"

"Well what about the other time when I made an orange sponge cake and you put bananas in it?"

"What's wrong with that?" Sirius asked.

"It was supposed to be an _orange_ sponge cake!" Ginny exclaimed. "And besides those two fruits do NOT go well together. Sirius did you even try what you made?"

"No, but I was just experimenting and I wanted to make it better!"

"Well regardless, I'm not letting you help" Ginny said and she and Lily went into the kitchen.

"If it makes you feel any better son, I thought the apple pie and orange cake tasted great" Harry told his son encouragingly out of earshot of his wife.

"Thanks dad" Sirius replied gloomily and stalked off to his room. "Fricking family" he muttered.

"What was that?" Harry called not looking up from his paper.

"I said I love my family, sheesh" Sirius replied rolling his eyes and Harry nodded in approval.

"Dammed Auror ears" he muttered again of his father's hearing.

"What was that son?" Harry asked.

"Nothing, I said oh the wonder years" Sirius remarked dryly.

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Scorpius sat down on that very same bench that he and Lily had been sitting on before with Merlin curled up at his feet snoozing away. He had been sitting there for two and a half hours staring into nothingness.

"I'm so sorry I'm late" came a flustered voice from behind Scorpius.

"Well, well Varian, it's about bloody time" Scorpius teased looking at his friend.

"I was caught up, but I've got something to tell you" Varian replied.

"Well what is it?" Scorpius asked looking anxious.

"I told my parents about Rose" Varian replied grinning from ear to ear.

"What?" asked Scorpius looking absolutely dumbstruck. "When?"

"Just now", replied Varian looking incredibly smug. "Rose and I talked about telling our families and we decided that if we didn't tell them now, we'd never get round to telling them".

"What do you mean? You told them just now? I thought you were off to do errands for your mum?" Scorpius asked.

"Yeah but after doing them I went straight to my mother and told her that I was in love with Rose Weasley and that if she can't handle it, she's lost her only son" he said looking like he meant it.

"Whoa!" Scorpius exclaimed looking impressed. "Then what did she say?"

"She said I should go and tell my father".

"So did you?"

"Hang on a sec Scorp I'm getting to it, so I went over to the Ministry of Magic and I went to my father's department"-.

"What did you say?"

"I'm coming to it Scorp. So I said to him dad I'm in love with a Weasley, Rose Weasley to be exact and I want to marry her. Even if you disapprove, I'm still going to marry her and you can disown me for all I care".

"Wow" Scorpius said in awe "you really told him didn't you".

"Yeah, and you know what he said? That was the best part. He said is she the girl that beat you in every class? And then I said yes and then he said, well ok".

"He said ok?"

"Yeah he wasn't really happy but he said as long as she's not a Potter he will tolerate her" Varian replied.

"Your dad actually said that?" Scorpius asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, and I was totally shocked but it's all ok. Rose it going to tell her parents now. Oh and I forgot to tell you that my mum has invited Rose over for that dinner party that she's having in two weeks and I'm inviting you".

"What? Really? You're inviting me?"

"Yes, I need you there for some moral support and if things go horribly wrong I hereby call on you as my best man to come forth and do your duty and save me, or Rose or both of us".

Scorpius laughed "I don't know, it seems like a pretty tedious thing to attend".

"Oh come on Scorp, please come. I'll even invite Lily if you do" he said.

"Ok I'm there"

"I thought you might say that".

Scorpius looked at Varian suspiciously "you were going to invite Lily all along weren't you. So that she could keep Rose company, you just used her to get me to come! You're a cheeky devil you know?" he said.

"Yeah people have often told me that"-

They were cut off by Merlin padding up to them and sniffing Scorpius's shoes.

"What's he doing?" Scorpius asked Varian "why is he sniffing my shoes?"

"I think he's- oh crap!" Varian exclaimed as Merlin lifted up his hind legs and promptly peed all over Scorpius's shoes.

"VARIAN! GET YOUR DOG OFF MY SHOES OR I WILL KILL IT! I DON'T CARE IF I'M HIS UNCLE SCORPIE OR THAT HE'S SO ADORABLE BUT THESE SHOES ARE BLOODY FIVE HUNDRED GALLEONS!!"

"Calm down Scorp"

"THIS IS THE SECOND BLOODY TIME HE'S DONE THIS TO ME!"

"Just used a _tergeo_" Varian suggested, vanishing the pee and Scorpius glared at him.

"I did but it just doesn't get rid of the smell the smell!"

"But when you take away the pee, it should take away the smell especially since shoes are small compared to a piano" Varian protested.

"Oh really?" Scorpius exclaimed. He bent down and took off one of his leather shoes and held it up to Varian. "Smell it" he commanded.

Varian took a sniff and scrunched up his nose "Ok, so you're right about that. Well I'm sure Merlin is very sorry about that and it wasn't intentional". They both looked at the dog which wagged his tail enthusiastically and got up and peed all over Scorpius's shoes again.

"I swear Varian, you're dog is out to get my shoes" Scorpius said glaring at Merlin "I loved you before Merlin, but I love my shoes even more".

"Ok, so maybe I was wrong, maybe it was just a tad intentional".

"I am going to bloody kill you" Scorpius said looking murderously at Varian.

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Lily felt incredibly claustrophobic. She was seated on a couch in the Potters' living room sandwiched between Lucian and Hugo. Even Hugo didn't know what was going on. Scattered around her were all the living Weasleys and Hermione's parents. Everyone was present for this 'big news' that Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione wanted to reveal. The cousins were all talking excitedly amongst themselves.

"Twenty galleons that Aunt Hermione's got a bun in the oven" Lucian said betting with Fred.

"Oh piss off, twenty five galleons that Rose is pregnant" Fred replied and Hugo glared at him. "What?" Fred asked looking innocently at Hugo "I'm just saying it's a possibility".

"Twenty on Uncle Ron got a promotion" James said to Lucian and Fred.

"Nah I don't think Uncle Ron got a promotion, if he did we would have heard about it by now. No I think I'm going to go with thirty galleons on Aunt Hermione finding something interesting in her research" Albus replied smartly.

"Hmm nice, nice but I beg to disagree, I bet fifty galleons that Rose is getting married" Lily said cockily.

"Hah! Yeah right" James replied "like that's going to happen".

"I agree wiz James" Jean Pierre put in "Roze doez not seem ze type ou would be married until she was absolutely sure".

"Yeah you're right JP, Rose doesn't seem the type to commit" James agreed.

"Well ok, if you say so" Lily replied knowingly. "I may be wrong but I'm still betting my money on Rose getting married".

"What a dumb way to lose fifty galleons" Lucian said and the rest snorted with laughter.

"Whatever" Lily replied glaring at Lucian and walking away.

Rose came into the room followed by her parents. Hermione was beaming while Ron looked slightly sullen.

"Why does your dad look so unhappy?" Sirius asked Hugo.

"I have no idea, something to do with Rose I think. He and mum were arguing about it in the car. Dad didn't approve and mum told him he was being childish or something like that".

"So what's the big news, tell me so I can place a jumbo bet" Sirius said.

"I don't even know!" Hugo replied.

"Come on Hugo; don't hold back on me here. Ok how about if we split the earnings 70-30?"

"But Sirius I don't know! They wouldn't tell me. Dad refers to it as 'you know what'" he said rolling his eyes.

"What is this some kind of secret mission concerning Voldermort?" Sirius asked looking bewildered.

"I have no idea, but it looks like we're about to find out" Hugo replied as Hermione called for everyone's attention.

"Attention everyone" Hermione called and everyone looked up suddenly more alert than before. "Ron and I have something exciting to tell you all" she said gesturing to a gloomy looking Ron. Rose shuffled nervously beside her parents and Lily knew that she had guessed correctly.

"Our darling Rosie has decided to get married" Hermione said brightly and the room that was filled with chatter only minutes before had now fallen silent.

"Oh my god" someone said and Lily had a sneaking suspicion that it was Lucian.

"Err…That's wonderful" Molly Weasley exclaimed after a pregnant pause.

"Oh yes it is" Ginny said encouragingly and smiled at Rose who smiled back weakly.

The cousins began to chatter loudly and they all began discussing who Rose's fiancé could be.

"So dear, tell us, who is he?" Molly asked and this time both Hermione and Rose looked nervous.

"It's Varian Zabini" she said and closed her eyes waiting for the stream of insults to come from her family.

"Oh" replied Molly looking speechless.

"Varian?" Hugo asked "Why does that name sound so familiar?"

"Well that's because he was the Slytherin Quidditch captain" James replied.

"Oh yeah, I knew him" Albus put in "he was a nice guy".

"Are you sure about that?" Harry asked "because his father was a right git".

"No I'm pretty sure Varian isn't like his father" Albus replied and he glanced at Rose to see that she looked appreciative of what he was saying.

"Yes I've met him before and he is a great guy" Lily put in and everyone turned their heads to face her. Rose stared at her.

"What do you mean?" Fred asked.

"I mean that I bumped into him when he was with Rose and he's a nice guy" she defended.

"Yeah, he was always gentlemanly, especially when it came to quidditch. Varian would ensure that his team didn't play dirty. He told us once that he'd rather lose a fair match than win a dirty game".

"Oh yeah he did I remember. Al's right Varian was always neutral" James added.

The family seemed to approve of Varian once hearing what the boys had to say. "Shame about his father though" Lucian remarked.

"Yeah well think about it this way, at least Rose isn't marrying a Malfoy" Sirius said and the whole family laughed, many of the adults nodding their heads in approval.

"Just imagine that" Fred replied "you'd have incredibly smart babies that look like Draco Malfoy".

Lily tried to imagine Rose getting married to a Malfoy and laughed to herself. She had seen Draco Malfoy a few times before and just could not picture someone who looked exactly like him with Rose. Lily had seen Draco Malfoy once a good five years ago. He was at King's Cross station waiting to receive his son. Lily remembered that Draco's son went to Hogwarts and was the same age as Al. He had blue eyes, a pointed chin and a pointed nose and hair so pale that it looked white. He was the splitting image of his father. They called him Orion or something like that. Lily had never spoken to him nor had she wanted to. She had avoided the Slytherins like the plague.

"So is everyone ok about Varian?" Rose asked looking hopefully at her family.

"I'm not too sure, bring him over for dinner and we'll think about it" Lucian added and Rose glared at him.

"Shut up _Lucy_, I didn't ask for _your_ comments" she snapped.

"Actually dear I think that's an excellent idea" Molly exclaimed clapping her hands together and all the uncles nodded their heads in agreement. Ginny looked at Rose's suddenly pale face and with a soft groan she put her head in her hands. Ginny knew exactly how Rose was feeling. Even though Harry was practically family, her brothers still grilled him to the bone and threatened him, she could only imagine what would happen to Varian.

"O-o-ok" Rose stammered looking nervous and pale.

"I don't think that's a very good idea" Ginny said.

"Nonsense" Harry replied "it would be an excellent opportunity to introduce Varian into the family".

"Yes, why not have him come to the burrow next Saturday and we can all have dinner together" Arthur said.

"That's right dear, you know what they say when a person gets married they get married to their spouse's family as well" Mrs. Granger put in.

"Ok" replied Rose.

"So it's all set then oh this is going to be wonderful" Molly exclaimed excitedly.

"Oh crap" Rose exclaimed and shared a look with Lily.

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It was an incredibly cold Friday night and Lily was taking a walk with Hugo. The Potter family had gone over to Rom and Hermione's house for dinner. After dinner, while the rest chattered in the living room, Hugo and Lily decided to go for a walk just like they used to when they were younger.

"Do you ever miss being young?" Lily asked him.

"Not really" he replied "I kind of like being an adult".

"Remember when we were younger and Uncle Charlie used to come over and tell us stories about Dragons and you used to get scared? You even made Uncle Ron leave the night light on for you"

Hugo laughed "or what about when our parents used to tell us stories about the war and you got so upset that you would insist on sleeping with Rose when you were at Hogwarts".

"But I was young back then" Lily Protested.

Hugo laughed "Lil you were sixteen years old and when you came back home for the holidays, you used to sleep in between your parents. No offence, but you were a bit strange back then" he said and Lily looked resigned.

"I guess you're right. I was a bit strange back then".

"But that's why we were best friends" Hugo replied gently "cause I was a bit strange too". She smiled sadly.

"What happened to us Hugie?" She asked and he looked at her.

"I don't know" he replied ruffling his auburn locks.

"I mean we were best friends in Hogwarts and now?" she asked looking expectantly at him.

"I don't know Lil, I mean you were closer to me than my own sister was back at Hogwarts and I guess we drifted after we left school. You went on to write for the prophet and I went on to do healing at St. Mungos" he said shrugging his shoulders.

"I guess we ended up doing different things, so we went different ways" he said. Then added quietly "but it wasn't supposed to turn out that way".

She looked at him "and for that I'm sorry".

"Look Lil, you're my cousin and I sort of have to love you but you're also my friend. My best friend and you'll always be. Look I'm not mad that we went our separate ways even though we made that stupid pact when we were kids to always stay together. It's just that you were great at healing and you showed so much enthusiasm".

"It's just that"-

"And you were top in the year for potions, you were Madam Pomfrey's prodigy, why did you drop out of healing?" he asked.

"I don't know. I just woke up one day and decided I didn't like it anymore and that's what made me quit".

"I don't believe that Lil. You used to love it, it was your passion. You can tell that same cock and bull story to everyone else on the planet but not me. What's the deal Lil?"

She sighed. "I didn't want to do healing anymore because I was afraid of making mistakes. It was ok to make small mistakes but what happens if I made a big mistake, one that could cost someone their life? I don't think I could have lived with myself if something like that had happened".

"What?" he asked "when did you start feeling like this?"

"It was just before we were supposed to graduate to become healers. I was supposed to treat a patient called Mr. Cornell, he'd come in bleeding badly and his legs were broken. It was my first time going solo and I panicked. I forgot what I was supposed to do and I just stood there like a dummy. Healer Jenkins who was my supervisor quickly rushed in and if he hadn't come in, Mr. Cornell would have been dead by now. I just couldn't handle it if it happened again" she said and Hugo looked at her, as if seeing her in a new light.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.

"I don't know I guess I was embarrassed that I panicked. I didn't even tell my parents or anyone else. I think my dad was the most disappointed that I dropped out of the healer internship" she choked.

"Come here Lil" he said kindly and hugged her.

"I'm sorry Hugie, I know we made that promise but I couldn't keep it. I really couldn't. I'm so sorry" she said and hugged him tighter.

"I don't care about that stupid promise Lil; we made it when we were six! But what I do care about is you, my cousin and best friend" he said looking at her. "Look Lily that was your first time going solo, you shouldn't be so hard on yourself. I don't think that it's that big of a deal that you messed up the first time, those things are meant to happen" he said gently.

"I just don't think I'm made for healing" she replied solemnly.

"Rubbish, of course you are! I think that you should take the bad with the good. It's those lives that you save that make being a healer worthwhile".

"I guess you're right, I think I was just scared and shocked that I almost killed someone". She replied.

"Look these things happen, you can't help it and you can't save everyone. Life's like that Lil, you just got to accept it and move on. You can't compromise your dreams for these things".

"I guess so" she replied then with weak smile she added "now you made me wish like I hadn't dropped out of healing".

"Well why don't you go back in?" he asked simply.

"What? What do you mean?" she asked looking at him.

"I'm just saying why don't you go back and do your healer internship?"

"What? Hugie, it's too late" she said and laughed.

"No, of course not. It's never too late" he said wisely.

"I don't know, it seems kind of soon don't you think?" she asked "besides I don't even know if I want to".

"You do want to go back, you miss it. I can see it in your face when you talk about it" Hugo replied.

"Come on Lil, just give it a try, if you don't try you'll never know" he said.

"I'll think about it" she said with a smile.

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Scorpius began clearing away the backlog of paperwork that he had accumulated on his desk. He had been cracking his head on the De Winters case. There were so many missing pieces to the puzzle that he had to find. The most important one that he needed right now was a key witness. He checked his stack of mail that he had received and found one that didn't look like it belonged. He frowned and unrolled the parchment. It was old and yellow and seemed to be torn at the edges.

_**Mr. Malfoy,**_

_**It seems apparent now that I can trust no one. I am in grave danger; I cannot tell you who I am just in case someone other than you reads this. I am the only eye witness to the De Winters murder and I can help you. I would like to arrange a meeting with you. I will owl you next week the time and place. I am going to lie low for a while. They are looking for me.**_

_**AG**_

Scorpius was utterly baffled and excited at the same time, upon reading the letter. He felt hopeful, there actually was an eyewitness. Someone could help make this case easier. Whatever the cost, he was going to get to the bottom of this.

A/N: Hi I'm so sorry this has taken a while. I've been really swamped with work and I've had a lot of things to do. I am really in need of a beta reader and I would be greatly appreciative if anyone would like to help me in that aspect. I would also like to thank all those who put this story on their favorites list as well as their alerts although it would be nice if you could review so that I actually know what you think of the story. If there is anything you would like to happen in this story, let me know and I will see what I can do.

**Next Chapter**: Scorpius and Lily officially become friends. Varian meets the Weasley family, The Zabini dinner party, Lily signs up to complete her internship as a healer and Scorpius gets attacked again by mysterious masked men.


	5. Sibling love and other kinds of love

**Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognize here so please don't sue because I have no money. You could have my dog but I think you'd give her back after a day.**

**Dedication; this chapter is dedicated to my best friend Adonara. For listening to my stories when no one else would and for putting up with my seven year obsession with fan fiction.**

**Chapter 5**

Lily was walking around Diagon Alley. It had been a couple of days since her heartfelt conversation with Hugo. Somehow she had felt a lot more relieved that she had told someone the real reason why she had dropped out of healing. It felt like a load off her chest. She and Hugo had been spending a lot more time together lately, trying to catch up on old times and rekindle the friendship that they had once had. Today she was supposed to meet him for dinner after he'd finished work, and then they were going to meet Rose for a couple of drinks. Since she still had about an hour till she met Hugo, she wandered around for a bit looking at the different shops when she caught sight of a tall, lean body ahead of her. She walked a little faster to catch up to the person and felt a smile come to her face when she noticed who it was.

"Scorpius?" she asked.

"Hey Lily, what brings you here?" he asked grinning at her.

"I'm waiting to meet a cousin but he doesn't finish work for an hour so I'm killing time by walking around. What about you?"

"Oh I'm actually only working half day today so I've been assigned some errands by my mother. I need to pick up her new robes from Madam Malkins".

"Oh right, I see" she said.

"Hey I was just going to grab a butterbeer, would you like to join me? I mean since you have about an hour left?" he asked casually.

"Yeah sure that'll be great!" she said and walked with him to the three broomsticks.

"So errands for your mother huh?" she asked looking curiously at him. He nodded.

"Yeah, she needs it for some dinner party at the ministry which is in three weeks".

"I see, so how's everything going?" she asked.

"It's fine how about you? Is your family still driving you nuts?" he asked.

"Sorry?"

"The other day when we met, you said you were at the park because your family was driving you crazy"

"Oh. No they're ok now I guess, everyone's kind of shocked that Rose is getting married".

"Really?"

"Yeah I think my uncle was mostly upset because it feels like his baby girl is all grown up".

"Oh yeah I understand, I expect I would hit the roof if I had a daughter and she got married no matter what age she"-

"Welcome to the three broomsticks table for two?" the waiter asked.

"Yes" Scorpius replied and followed the waiter to their table.

"May I take your order?"

"Can I have a butterbeer and a club sandwich, what about you Lily?"

"Just a butterbeer for me" she replied.

"Are you sure? How about a cauldron cake or something?"

"No really I'm fine thanks" she said.

"Ok" Scorpius said to the waiter "that's all thank you". The waiter nodded and left with their order.

"This is a nice place" Lily remarked looking around. I quite like it.

"Yeah it is isn't it?" Scorpius agreed.

"It's changed since I've last been here; I haven't been here in a while".

"I come here all the time actually. Usually on my lunch breaks or with colleagues, friends and"-

"And girlfriends maybe?" Lily asked wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

"Nah, I don't have a girlfriend" he said.

"You don't?" she asked looking surprised.

"No, I guess I haven't found one my type, what about you?"

"No, same here I guess I haven't found a guy my type too" she replied back. Just at that moment the waiter came back with their butterbeers and Scorpius's sandwich.

"Are you sure you don't want anything to eat?" he asked and she shook her head in reply.

"I'm fine thanks, please you go ahead" she said. He took the sandwich in his hands and was about to take a bite when he looked at her face and stopped.

"I don't really feel comfortable about eating when you're not having anything so this is what I'll do" he said and picked up his knife and promptly cut his sandwich into two. He got an extra plate from the waiter and place one half of the sandwich onto the plate. Lily watched as he slid the plate towards her.

"I really can't I"-

"Come on Lily, it'll make me feel better and besides I won't look like a total gluttonous pig if you have half" he said and she laughed.

"Ok fine, if it'll make you feel better"

"So anyway did you hear that the new Nimbus evolution has come out?" Scorpius asked her.

"Yeah in fact I got my brother the gold edition?"

"Oh wow, you're some great sister. How old is your brother?" he asked.

"My brother is sixteen going on six, I guess it's because he's the youngest out of the four of us" she replied and Scorpius chuckled.

"Wow, four of you?"

"Yeah I have three brothers" she replied.

"Wow aren't you lucky? I am the only child and boy it's lonely" he said.

"Well they're all immature though so it makes me feel like I am the only child" she replied.

"I guess we were all at that stage at one point in our life?" Scorpius asked and grinned cheekily upon looking at Lily's mock offended expression.

"For your information, I was never immature" Lily said haughtily.

"Yeah right, I am sure you were a spoiled princess when you were younger" Scorpius said smirking at her.

"How dare you" she said melodramatically "how dare you say such a thing". He raised his eyebrows and she grinned sheepishly "Yes I guess I was a little spoiled" she said and he raised his eyebrows a notch higher.

"Ok maybe I was spoiled a lot" she admitted and he laughed.

"At least you're admitting it" he said chuckling as she pouted.

"Whatever" she replied and he grinned raising his hands up as if to say 'search me'. They sat in silence for a while finishing their food when Lily looked at her watch and noticed the time.

"Oh crap, I'm so late Hugie is going to kill me" she said as she gathered her purse.

"Wait, but you haven't finished your drink yet!" Scorpius exclaimed.

"I know I'm really sorry but I've got to go" she said and Scorpius stood up with abandoning what was left of his sandwich.

"I'll walk you" he said and after paying the bill he walked Lily to the end of the street.

"So I just wanted to say that this was nice" Lily said shuffling her feet a little.

"Yeah it was" Scorpius agreed "So I guess this makes us friends then?"

"Yeah" Lily replied smiling "I guess it does". He nodded grinning like a kid "So I guess I'll see you then and thanks for everything".

"Yeah, See you" he replied and waved to her as she walked down the street.

Lily turned and saw him waving and smiled to herself. She felt extremely cheerful and she had reasoned that it probably had something to do with Scorpius. He made her feel somewhat happier.

"And where have you been?" asked a stern voice from in front of her.

"Oh hello Hugie, sorry I didn't see you there I was a little spaced out" she replied cheerfully.

"I thought I told you never to call me that?" Hugo snapped looking irritated.

"What's up with you?" Lily asked looking at Hugo with concern.

"Oh nothing, it's just that today Jenkins hounded me about something or rather. Said I was doing a shoddy job and that I should pay attention more".

"Jenkins huh? I used to hate him. I guess dropping out of healing did have its good points. Like not being able to see Jenkins's face.

"I guess so but what about the other factors, like how much you loved it?" Hugo put in.

"Yeah whatever" she replied shrugging her shoulders.

"Ok enough about healing. The whole reason why we decided to meet up is so that we could catch up like old times. So where do you want to eat?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. Anywhere is fine, doesn't really bother me because I've already had something to eat".

"What? Lil you ate without me?" Hugo asked looking slightly hurt and Lily immediately felt guilty.

"Sorry Hugo but I've had a really full lunch" she lied. She didn't know why but something told her to keep her mouth shut about Scorpius and besides she didn't want to endure Hugo's teasing for the rest of the time.

"Ok but at least have a drink with me?" he asked and she nodded not really paying attention. She was too busy thinking about Scorpius.

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Scorpius returned home, walking up the gravel path with a slight bounce in his step. He felt on top of the world. There was something about Lily that seemed to make him forget everything else except being there with her. He had to make his move before someone else did.

He walked into his family's seemingly empty manor and was met as usual by Doner the house elf. The elf took his coat and his shoes and left Scorpius alone. Scorpius loved it when the manor was empty. He liked the feeling of standing by the huge staircase in the middle of the hall. He felt like he was at the heart of the manor. He was glad that his father had decided to buy the manor when Scorpius was born. It was huge and old and made out of stone and resembled a castle somewhat. He ginned to himself, now that he was alone he could have some fun. He was going to do what he always did when he was alone at home as a child. He cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled.

"HEEELLOOOOOO!!!!" he called.

"HEEELLOOOOOO!!!!!" replied the echo.

"I AM SCORPIUS"

"I AM SCORPIUS"

"WHO ARE YOU?"

"WHO ARE YOU?"

"I SAID I WAS SCORPIUS"

"I SAID I WAS SCORPIUS"

"NO I'M SCORPIUS"

"NO I'M SCORPIUS"

"YOU'RE NOT SCORPIUS"

"YOU'RE NOT SCORPIUS"

"YES I AM"

"YES I AM"

"NO YOU'RE NOT"

"NO YOU'RE"-

"SCORPIUS STOP THAT RACKET AT ONCE!" came a new voice at the head of the staircase.

"Oh hello father, I err thought the house was… erm …empty" he said feeling extremely foolish. What would his father think?

"Well you thought wrong" his father said glaring at him. "Now that you've stopped this ear splitting nonsense go and wash up and get ready, dinner is in half an hour" he said.

"Err yes father" Scorpius replied and Draco headed off in the direction of his room. If Scorpius had been facing his father as the man walked off, he would have seen Draco smirk to himself at his son's behavior.

Scorpius ginned sheepishly and went to his room to get ready for dinner. It was the first time in years that his father had caught him. He let out a relaxed sigh as the hot water hit his head. As he relaxed his brain kept chanting the one word that plagued his mind, _Lily_.

000

Lily hummed to herself as she began to write the newest chapter of her book. She had gotten over her writers block and the ideas were hitting her hard and fast. She looked up as her brother entered the room.

"Hey Lil" James greeted sitting opposite her at the Potters dining table.

"Hi" she said as she scrawled some ideas in her book.

"What are you up to?" James asked looking at her hand which held a beautiful eagle feathered quill.

"I'm working on a new chapter, I actually only just got rid of my writers block" she replied as she bit her bottom lip. James stared at his little sister for a while and then stood up. "Where are you going?" she asked him.

"I'm going to get Al and Si. I'll be right back" he said and sprinted up the stairs. Lily shrugged her shoulders and went back to her writing.

Minutes later loud thudding footsteps told her that all three of her brothers were coming down the stairs and she looked up from her writing. "We're going out" James said.

"And you're coming with us" Al put in.

"I can't I'm still writing this chapter" she protested.

"Come on Lil, when was the last time us Potter siblings did something together?" Sirius asked.

"Hmmm let me think" she said pretending to be deep in thought. "How about last year when you spiked the punch with Al and James drank too much at Renée's wedding and threw up all over her mother in law"-

"But we"-

"Don't interrupt me Al," Lily said sternly and her brother kept quiet. "Then us four Potter siblings had to degnome Grandma and Grandpa Weasley's garden as well as clean up after the wedding _together_ even though I did nothing but warn you three".

"Well that obviously doesn't count because we were forced to spend time together" James said looking miffed.

"Now we want to spend time together" Al said.

"With the exception of you" Sirius put in helpfully.

"Come on Lil, just come with us please" Al pleaded.

"Oh alright I'll come but if anyone of you does anything embarrassing I'm going to leak all your secrets to mum and dad".

"What secrets?" James asked furrowing his brows and looking as equally puzzled as his brothers.

"Oh my dear sweet naïve brothers, come let me enlighten you" she said. "But first let me grab my coat".

000

"So James really does like Jazz Longbottom?" Albus asked incredulously and Lily nodded smiling slyly and he and Sirius burst into laughter.

"Oi piss off alright?" James said hotly and they laughed even more.

"Oh look ickle James is getting all hot under the collar, are we embarrassing you Jamie?" Sirius asked mockingly.

"Look, you guys don't get it. When you find the one you love, what they look like or who they are won't matter. It's the person inside that really matters".

"Right" Sirius replied and he and Al snorted with laughter.

"I'm being bloody serious" James snapped. "She's smart and funny and she's really nice".

"Yeah right James. She looks like the female version of her father" Sirius added and he and Al cracked up again.

"Oh yes dear Sirius laugh now while I tell our dear brothers your secret" and Sirius immediately stopped laughing.

"You wouldn't?" Sirius asked looking aghast.

"Oh yes I would" she replied mischievously.

Turning to James and Al she said "A couple of months back while the two of you were away our dear baby brother Sirius was in his room by himself and mum went into the room to get his laundry and caught him reading Play Wizard and spending some 'quality' time with his wand".

Al's jaw dropped and for the first time in his life James couldn't speak. It was Al who got over the initial shock first.

"Oh sweet Merlin, Sirius? You were caught?" Al asked and Sirius turned a violent shade of crimson.

"Wow" James remarked. "That is by far the most hilarious thing I've ever heard to date".

Al began laughing so hard that he had tears coming out of his eyes. "Oh Albus, don't think you're off the hook. I have dirt on you too" she said and Albus sobered up.

"Come on spill!" James exclaimed.

"Last year when Albus was at a stage in his life when he was desperate to get a girlfriend, he signed up for a blind date through witch weekly magazine"-

"He didn't!" Sirius exclaimed and Lily nodded.

"But that's a witches magazine" James cried.

"Exactly. So Albus gets a reply from the magazine telling him that a witch has been selected for him and to go to the three broomsticks and she will be there carrying a red rose". Lily paused to look at Albus who looked green and about to throw up.

"So what happened next?" James asked.

"So when Al gets there half an hour earlier he doesn't see anyone and spies Mrs. Tonks in the corner sitting alone at the table so he decided to chat with her for a while. Then when its just about time for him to meet his date, Mrs. Tonks says to him would you mind clearing off Al because I'm meeting someone here. So Al says yeah sure I'm meeting someone here too. So he smiles and just as he's about to walk away, Mrs. Tonks takes out a red rose from her bag and puts it on the table and Al realizes that Mrs. Tonks is actually his date!"

"OH MY GOD!" Sirius shouted. "You're joking aren't you?" he asked and Lily shook her head.

"So then what?" James asked waiting eagerly for her response.

"So our dear brother Albus here asks Mrs. Tonks that did she by any chance sign up for a blind date through witch weekly and Mrs. Tonks says yes and asks if he's waiting for his date and Albus says that she is his date and Mrs. Tonks is so surprised but she says it's ok that they can pretend that all this never happened but…" Lily trailed off taking a deep breath.

"But WHAT??" Sirius asked "You can't just leave it at that Lil you've got to finish the story".

"Oh would you look at that, we're here already" Albus exclaimed brightly and Lily looked around and found herself standing by the lake of Grimmauld Park. The place where they used to come to as kids.

"This is where we wanted to take you" James said as he gestured around the park.

"Here?" Lily asked "but why?"

"Because we used to come here as kids" Al replied "and we wanted to bring back some of those memories".

"Oh guys" Lily said as she sat down on the bench.

"Yeah we wanted to tell you that no matter where our jobs take us or where life leads us, we're always going to be here for you. Remember what dad said?" James asked and his three siblings nodded.

"Even if the world comes crashing down" Albus said.

"Your family will always be by your side" Sirius said smiling.

"And don't you forget it" Lily breathed.

"Ok now let's skip the sentimental mush and do what we used to eh?" James said grinning like a schoolboy.

"Race you to the swings" Sirius exclaimed and pushed past a few muggle kids in his haste to get to the swings.

"Oh no you don't" James called and sprinted after Sirius.

"Coming Lily?" Albus called as he ran after his brothers.

"I'm coming".

"Ok but you'd better hurry up before James and Sirius take all the good swings" Al replied. Lily laughed and ran to catch up with Al.

She had a really great time with her brothers. They scaled the playground like they had done when they were kids. They played ball and bought hot pretzels from the stand. Then they sat down on the bench by the lake eating pretzels and watching the little ripples in the water. On the way back home, Al had jogged ahead of his siblings and Lily, James and Sirius lagged behind.

"Lil" Sirius said and then he glanced at James who nodded "well we wanted to ask you, what happened in the end with Al and Mrs. Tonks".

"Oh that" Lily said "now that is a funny story. See the rules of the date were that at the end of the date the two participants had to kiss each other if not than both of them would erupt in boils. Al of course thought he was going to score with a hot chick but he ended up with Mrs. Tonks. He ended up giving her a little peck on the lips" Lily said "and after that he scrubbed his mouth with soap when he got home".

"Oh gross, Mrs. Tonks is like a grandmother to us" Sirius exclaimed looking incredibly disgusted.

"But that's not the best part; it so happened that when Al checked the rules and regulations, all it said was that the participants of the blind date had to kiss each other. It just didn't specify where" she said and James and Sirius roared with laughter.

"So basically Al could have kissed Mrs. Tonks on the cheek and it would have been ok?" James asked.

"Uh-huh" Lily replied nodding.

"Oh my god, poor Al" Sirius said sympathizing with his brother.

"But till today, Al thinks that Mrs. Tonks secretly wanted him to kiss her on the lips although I think that is insane. So that's why Al can't seem to face her" Lily finished.

"Oh so that's why whenever Mrs. Tonks comes round for tea, Al always has a meeting or heaps of work to do at the office" James said.

"And when he does see her, he can't seem to look her in the eye" Sirius put in sniggering.

"Oh hush" Lily said although she was smiling "don't be mean to him".

"Yeah like we're ever going to let him forget it" Sirius remarked and James grinned.

Lily rolled her eyes and jogged ahead to meet Al on the front steps of Grimmauld place. "There you all are, where have you been we have to leave in an hour" Ginny exclaimed as her four children trooped through the front door.

"Leave?" James asked dumbly "leave to go where?"

"We have to go to the Burrow for dinner. Rose's fiancé is coming over".

"Oh I totally forgot about that" Al said truthfully.

"Well, I'm counting on you boys not to give Varian a hard time" Ginny said raising her eyebrows at her sons.

"Ok mum" they replied in unison.

"Good now get cleaned up. We have to go" she said and ushered her children up to their rooms.

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Scorpius Malfoy sat on his enormous king sized bed watching his best friend Varian paced up and down in front of him.

"Varian, if you keep pacing that furiously you're going to burn a hole in my floor".

"Sorry Scorp but I can't help it, I'm just so nervous about meeting Rose's family. Oh shit that reminds me I've got fifteen minutes before I have to floo over there".

"Relax Varian" Scorpius said gently "you'll be great man. I'm sure they'd love you". He looked at Varian for a while as though contemplating what he had just said. "I think?" he asked shrugging his shoulders.

"Oh great! Now what am I going to do? Rose's parents are probably cursing my very existence for being a Slythein. It's just not fair; I wish sometimes that I wasn't put in Slytherin".

"Oh don't worry buddy, me too" Scorpius put in. "But Rose loves you and that's all that matters".

"I hope you're right Scorp I really hope you're right. Sometimes I think to myself that all these obstacles that our love goes through will make it stronger".

"Yeah, maybe Varian. That's being optimistic but at the same time it could put a strain on your relationship".

"I guess so but I'm hoping for the best" Varian replied and looked determined. Just then the clock chimed seven and Varian turned a shade paler. "It is time" he whispered and marched to Scorpius's fireplace.

"You'll be fine Varian" Scorpius said encouragingly and patted him on the back, "Just think positive and be yourself and don't forget to ask how Lily is".

Scorpius watched as Varian cried "The Burrow" and disappeared into the green flames. He really hoped that his friend would be ok but he'd just have to wait and see. Varian promised to come back to see Scorpius when his dinner was over and till then Scorpius was going to rest and relax and probably snooze. As he lay down on his bed, he didn't notice the black owl that landed on his desk. Nor did he notice the roll of parchment that it left on the desk before flying off through the open window.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

When the doorbell rang all heads in the living room of the Burrow turned in the direction of the front door. Lily heard a sharp intake of breath from her right and turned to look at Rose who had turned slightly pale.

"Go on" Lily whispered to Rose and soon after the doorbell rang again. This time all the heads in the Burrow turned to look expectantly at Rose and she stood up unsteadily and walked towards the door.

Lily heard Rose take a deep breath before opening the door to reveal a nervous looking Varian. "Hi" Rose whispered as she hugged him.

"Hi" he said returning the greeting, his voice calm and steady.

"Come in" Rose said and Varian stepped in, carrying bouquets of flowers and a few boxes of chocolates.

Almost at once, Molly Weasley who had been in the kitchen came rushing out followed by Hermione and Ginny. Hermione smiled brightly when she saw Varian. "Hello" Molly greeted rushing forward.

"Good evening Mrs. Weasley" Varian greeted "these are for you" he said handing her a bouquet of sunflowers.

"Oh sunflowers" Molly gushed "my favorite! Please, please come in! Make yourself at home." She went back into the kitchen to put the flowers in a vase.

"Varian this is my mother" Rose said introducing Hermione.

Varian shook Hermione's hand "It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Weasley Rose has spoken so much about you I feel like I know you already".

"Call me Hermione; has she really spoken about me?" Hermione asked looking pleased.

"By the way, these are for you since you're the mother of the most beautiful Rose" he said handing her a bouquet of red roses.

Hermione flushed "oh thank you how lovely, I'd better go and put these into a vase" she said and hurried off in the same direction as Molly.

"Varian this is my Aunt Ginny. She's also my godmother" Rose said as she introduced Varian to Ginny.

"Hi Mrs. Potter, it's a pleasure to meet you. Rose has told me a lot about you as well".

"Oh really?" Ginny asked smiling with an eyebrow raised.

"Yes and it's a real pleasure to meet the former youngest chaser to join the Holyhead Harpies, I really admired your skills".

"Why thank you Varian, I do hope you have a nice time tonight. Just don't take everything us Weasleys say too seriously. We can be idiots at times, usually the male specimens of our family".

Varian grinned at Ginny and relaxed a little "I like your aunt she seems cool" he whispered to Rose as she led him across to the living room to meet the rest of the family.

"Yes she's nice isn't she? She's great to go to for advice. I usually talk to her if I need advice and feel like I can't talk to my mum" Rose whispered back.

When they crossed the tiny distance from the front door to the living room, Varian noticed for the first time the vast number of Weasleys that had congregated in the humble living room and he felt his throat tighten.

"Varian meet my family, family meet Varian" Rose announced and Varian smiled weakly. Molly, Hermione and Ginny had returned from the kitchen to find the living room in complete silence. Unable to take the awkward silence Ginny glared at her sons and shuffling their feet the three Potter men walked over to meet Varian, followed closely behind by the rest of the Weasleys.

When Varian had finished meeting the family that had been in the living room, Rose took him outside to the back garden where the Weasley men usually hung out".

"Varian this is my father Ron" Rose said gesturing to Ron.

"Pleased to meet you sir" Varian said shaking Ron's hand in a firm grip.

"Likewise" Ron replied in a tone that clearly indicated that he was not at all pleased to be meeting Varian.

Rose scowled at her father and then moved past him to introduce Varian to her uncles. "So let me introduce my uncles in order" she said "this is my uncle Bill, Charlie, Percy, George and this is my uncle Harry".

"Nice to meet you all", Varian said and he shook hands with them.

"So Varian now it's time for the test" Bill said and Rose slapped a hand to her forehead.

"Not this bloody test thing again" Rose exclaimed. Then turning to Varian she added "it's this ritual thing that my uncles have that the guy that every girl in our family who brings home has to past this test" Varian still looked somewhat confused.

"We need to know what quidditch team you support" Charlie said grinning and Varian let out a breath of relief.

"For a moment I thought I was going to have to duel somebody" he said but this, this is a good test". Rose laughed.

"Ok so what team do you support?" Harry asked.

"I support the Chudley Cannons" Varian said and watched as five faces looked shocked while one face seemed to darken.

"I hope you're not saying the Chudley Cannons just because I like them" Ron said sternly.

"Oh no sir, I actually do like the Chudley Cannons" Varian said looking serious.

"Yes, its true Uncle Ron" James said coming over to the adults "Varian even had an autographed poster of them hanging over his four poster bed isn't that right Varian? And he wore Chudley cannon boxers every time he played quidditch".

The men turned to watch Varian who had turned a furious scarlet. "How do you know all this?" he asked James.

"Well, it helps that my team mate Moran used to be in your dorm" James said.

"Oh you mean Caleb? Yeah he's really nice guy we used to be buddies, hell of a quidditch player too".

"What made you support them?" Ron asked looking disinterested but Rose hid a smile, her father was curious.

"Well I always support the underdogs, I always think that if they win somehow then it gives me hope that other underdogs like me can win in life too. It's the principle of the thing".

"And it makes you feel a sense of accomplishment that a team that everyone around you hates, wins?" Ron asked.

"Exactly! Somehow that because everyone hates them, it makes the victory all the sweeter" Varian said and Ron nodded eagerly.

"Hello? Is anyone even going to consider the fact that the Cannons haven't won for centuries?" James put in.

"Shut up" Ron and Varian said in unison.

"So who's your favorite player then?" Ron asked and Rose shared a secret smile with her uncles. Ron was finally warming up to Varian.

"My favorite player is Akkarin Avalon, I've got to stick with my family don't I?" he asked grinning boyishly.

Ron's jaw dropped "you're related to Akkarin Avalon?"

"Yeah, Akkarin is my cousin. My mother's brother's son" Varian replied.

"He's supposed to be the new up and coming keeper in the league" Ron exclaimed.

"Yeah" put in Charlie "I heard he was scouted even when he was in Durmstrang".

"Yes he was" Varian replied.

"I can't believe you're related to Akkarin" Ron exclaimed.

"He's not that great" James muttered.

"Wonder why he chose the Cannons" Bill asked.

"He feels that if he plays for the Cannons, he might help them a bit" Varian said.

"Well as far as I'm concerned he has nothing to lose, I mean there's no possible way that the team can get worse. I mean they're already at the bottom of the league" George said.

"You've got that right" Harry replied.

"So tell me…" Ron trailed off as he led his future son in law away from the group.

"Hey, just because we don't support the Cannons doesn't mean you have to ignore us" Harry called and the group laughed.

000

"So actually you have another brother?" Varian asked Albus and James and the two of them nodded.

"Sirius was too young and he only entered Hogwarts after me and Al left. See there's a year between me and Al and two years between Al and Lily and six years between Lily and Sirius".

"Wow and all this time I never knew you had another brother. I just thought it was the two of you guys and Lily".

"Sorry to burst your bubble Varian but there's actually another Potter" James replied.

"Hi Varian" Lily said coming over "congratulations, you have just survived a Weasley family dinner".

"It honestly wasn't as bad as I expected" Varian mused.

"Yeah right I'm sure you're just being nice" Lily said.

"Hey guys me and Al are just going to get some drinks, we'll be back soon" James said and he and Al walked off.

"Scorpius was asking about you" Varian said slyly.

"Was he?" Lily asked looking sharply at Varian.

"Yes" he replied, "he wants to know how you are".

"Oh he does he?" she asked and Varian nodded. "Well you can tell him that I'll be going to Grimmauld Park after this for my midnight stroll, he can meet me there if he wants" she said and Varian raised an eyebrow.

"Won't your parents get angry?" he asked and she looked confused.

"Why would they?" she asked "I mean what they don't know can't hurt them right?"

"Wow, you sure are brave Lily. I wouldn't dare be in your place" he said.

_It's just a midnight stroll_ Lily thought to herself. _What's there to be afraid of? He probably thinks I'm brave to risk getting caught. But what mum and dad don't know can't hurt them right?_

"Don't worry Lily, I'll be sure to tell him" Varian said and smirked. "So you like him then?"

"Yeah I mean he's a nice guy and pretty good looking what's not to like?" Lily asked.

"Hmm I don't know" Varian replied thoughtfully.

"So you're going to see Scorpius after this then?" Lily asked looking subtly interested.

"Yeah" Varian replied "I'm supposed to see him later and tell him how dinner went"

"Oh, ok" Lily said hesitantly.

"So I'll tell him where to find you then shall I?" Varian asked and Lily nodded. "And don't worry I won't tell anyone, I know how much trouble you'll get into if your family finds out about you and Scorpius".

"Yeah" Lily said innocently "imagine all the teasing and taunting I'll get and they'll want to know every single detail of our relationship. Or whatever, I don't think I could put Scorpius through that" she said and shook her head.

"Right" he said looking at her strangely. "But I mean won't you get into trouble though?"

"No, not really I mean I think that they'll be ok with it but I don't want them to meddle. The last relationship I was in was partially ruined because of my family's interference. I think it kind of scared him off".

"It was Peter wasn't it?" Varian asked gently.

Lily looked up shocked "wha- who told you?"

"Al told me about him. Seems like such a prick if you ask me. So maybe your family's interference was good".

"Yes but I mean if anything should happen with me and Scorpius I don't want him to be scared off" Lily replied.

"Oh you don't have to worry about that. Scorpius isn't scared off easily, so you are considering the possibility of a relationship with Scorpius then?" he asked and she looked thoughtful.

"I don't know. I'm not sure, I mean I like him and all but I don't know if he feels the same way" she said.

"I don't think you have to worry about that" Varian muttered to himself.

"I beg your pardon?" Lily asked.

"Oh nothing, why don't you meet him later and see how things go?" he suggested and Lily brightened.

"That sounds like a great idea" she said. "I'd better go home and get ready" she said and impulsively hugged a very bewildered looking Varian.

"Where is she going?" Rose asked Varian as Lily ran past her.

"She's going home to get ready" he replied as Rose flopped into the seat next to him.

"Get ready? For what?"

"She's going to meet Scorpius" Varian replied simply.

"She- What?"

"You heard what I said, she's going to go and meet Scorpius".

"So she knows that Scorpius is a Malfoy?" Rose asked.

"Yes I think so but she didn't seem too bothered. She just told me not to mention it to anyone though she said her family tends to meddle in her relationships and so she doesn't want that to happen with her and Scorpius" Varian said shrugging his shoulders.

"You talk as if they're already a couple" Rose mused. "How do you even know that they like each other?"

"Because she just admitted it to me that she kind of liked him and he"- Varian let out a laugh "he's nuts about her".

"Is he?" Rose asked looking surprised.

"Yes he is, he talks about her all the time and he's always wondering if he should owl her- you should see him, it's pathetic. He's supposed to be a Slytherin!" Varian said.

"Hmm" Rose replied raising an eyebrow "I seem to recall another Slytherin who was as equally pathetic back during Hogwarts. He was always cornering me in hallways and begging me to give him a chance. He used to say that if I went out with him, I'd see that he wasn't like the other Slytherins. I'd see that he was different".

"So what happened to this Slytherin?" Varian asked grinning cheekily.

"Well eventually I gave this pathetic Slytherin a chance" Rose said raising her hand dismissively.

"And?"

"And it turned out that he was right" she said looking into his eyes.

"He was?" Varian asked as he leant closer to Rose.

"Yes, he was different from the rest" she said smiling "he was funny, kind, sweet, honest and best of all he wasn't slimy like I thought Slytherins were".

Varian let out a bark of laughter "well glad to hear it" he said and he leaned closer till his lips almost touched Rose's. Her lips parted slightly and-

"Varian" called Ron.

Rose groaned and Varian let out a frustrated sigh. "Way to ruin our moment dad" Rose muttered.

"Yes Ron?" Varian asked.

"I wanted to ask you if you wanted to play quidditch, everyone's gathered in the yard so come on" he replied and went in the direction of the yard.

"Since when have you called my dad Ron?" Rose asked looking strangely at Varian.

"Since just before dinner, when he insisted that I go to your house the day after tomorrow for dinner" he replied grinning.

"What?" Rose asked.

"Yeah I'm serious" he replied and she beamed, hugging him tightly.

"Looks like you've already won my family over" she said and he laughed.

"So what do we do about Scorpius and Lily?" he asked and she shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know, maybe we should just let nature take its own course" she replied.

"Well if Scorpius had his way there'll be many little Scorpius' around" he said and Rose smacked him on the shoulder.

"I think we should just keep quiet about it" she said and he nodded. "So this means not a single word to my cousins about it as well" she replied "they can get pretty touchy about matters concerning their sister".

"Meaning?" Varian asked.

"Meaning that they can be too overprotective and Scorpius could end up with a couple of black eyes and broken bones".

"Oh" Varian added. "You know I think I'd better owl Scorpius and tell him about Lily going to Grimmauld Park, then I can stay longer. He said and she nodded.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Scorpius woke immediately from a tapping sound. He rubbed his eyes and found the time to be almost midnight.

"Wha"- he asked sleepily as he noted the brown owl that was tapping its beak on his mahogany desk. His very expensive mahogany desk. "Oh shit" he cursed and was immediately standing beside the desk. Upon taking the parchment from the owl, it flew back out through the open window.

_Scorp,_

_Guess what, I told your 'lady love' about your concern for her well being and she seemed immensely flattered. Using my incredibly good looks, my charm and my wit I managed to weasel (get it weasel? Weasley?) her future whereabouts from her. She will be at Grimmauld Park at twelve midnight. So I'm guessing you will be too. Well now that you're satisfied and probably smirking_, ("Smug bastard" Scorpius thought out aloud "how did he know?") _the Weasley dinner went great_. _Her family loves me and I think they're awesome too. If you ever become part of the Weasley family, I'm sure you'd love it! They're so warm and welcoming. Well they weren't at first but after a while they warmed up to me. Well I guess I'll see you in a couple of days at my mum's dinner party. I hope you haven't forgotten. __**Be there or be dead!**_

_Varian A. Zabini_

Scorpius smirked to himself. Trust Varian to be so melodramatic. He looked at his clock; it was a couple of minutes to midnight. His eyes widened. If he didn't hurry he'd be late. Just then he noticed a fraying yellow piece of parchment on the desk beside his letter from Varian. Deciding that he would read it later, he quickly grabbed his cloak and disapprated.

000

He found Lily standing by the water, staring out into space. He approached her with his hands in his pockets. Turning around, she greeted him with a warm smile that melted his heart.

"Hi Scorpius, I hoped you would come" she said and Scorpius's breath caught in his throat. She was truly a sight to behold; the wind was blowing a gentle breeze which caressed her hair. Her eyes were sparkling under the moonlight and her skin seemed to glow. He wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her right there but he had to exercise some self control.

"Hey Lily, of course I would have come. I wouldn't miss hanging out with you for anything" he said and something inside him fluttered when she smiled again.

"I always come out here in the middle of the night and look at the stars" she said in a dreamy voice as she gazed into the sky.

"It's nice isn't it?" he agreed.

"Hugo, Rose's brother and I used to come out here all the time when we were younger but we stopped when we grew apart".

"Why? Was it because you got scared that you didn't have a man to protect you?" he teased and she smiled sarcastically.

"As if! I can take care of myself you know" she replied and he grinned.

"So" he said treading carefully with his words "care for some star gazing?" he asked and she nodded her head.

Scorpius discretely conjured a blanket and sat down, patting the seat next to him. Lily sat down and surprised Scorpius by lying down on the blanket. He looked down at her face and saw pure childish joy written on her face.

"Come on Scorpius, you can't properly stargaze if you don't lie down" she said and he raised an eyebrow.

"I can stargaze pretty well from here thanks" he said looking down at her.

"Completely missing his innuendo Lily coaxed him. "Oh come on Scorpius, just do it" she said and with a reluctant sigh he lay down beside her on the blanket. Muggle couples, who strolled past them, stared at them strangely.

"People are looking at us weirdly" he said and Lily turned her head to look at him.

"Don't worry about what people thing, it's not a big issue. Just look up" she whispered.

His breath caught in his throat when he realized that her face was inches apart from his. She looked away and disappointment filled him. Sullenly, he looked up and his breath caught in his throat yet again.

"Wow" he breathed.

"Amazing isn't it?" she asked.

"Yeah" he replied. Looking up at the black velvet sky dotted with millions of tiny twinkling stars, Scorpius felt small. Without the distractions of the scenery it was just him and the sky and for a while it didn't seem as if the sky was that far away. But rather within his reach.

"Look Scorpius, if you look carefully enough you can see your star constellation" she said and his eyes followed her finger to see where she was pointing.

He was dumbstruck. All these years he had never once taken a moment to reflect on the beauty that hovered just above him. All he had to do was just look up but here, this moment felt so right. Lying with Lily, looking up at the stars and appreciating the beauty. It seemed only fitting that he should notice this spectacular sight with her.

"Have you ever felt small and insignificant when you look up at the stars?" he asked, surprising himself at how husky his voice had gotten.

"All the time" she replied looking at him. "But then…" she said sitting up and he copied her.

"Yeah?" Scorpius asked looking intrigued.

"I realized that somewhere on the other side of this earth, someone else is looking up at the same night sky and thinking about how insignificant they are to the world. And when I think about it, it doesn't make me feel so small" she said and he smiled.

"I know what you mean" he said. "It's like, when you know someone else feels the same way that you do it kind of gives you hope".

"Yeah, and it makes you feel that maybe you're not alone in this world and nor are you insignificant" Lily said.

"And maybe sometimes we're all meant to feel this way so that we can find someone else who feels the same way and reach out to them" he added.

"So that they can connect" she said her voice a mere whisper.

He heard her gasp softly and he looked at her. Their faces an inch apart, he had been unconsciously moving closer and closer to her and so had she. Her full pink lips parted slightly from surprise and Scorpius took this as his opportunity. He leant forward and gently pressed his lips to hers. He heard her sharp intake of breath and pulled back. She looked slightly disappointed.

"I'm sorry" he said "I should not have done that. I had no right" he said and she looked at him and frowned.

"Don't be sorry" she said "if you didn't do that, then I would never have mustered the courage to do this" she said and molded her lips against his. His surprise at her boldness was replaced by pleasure as they kissed. Finally pulling apart for air he exhaled heavily.

"Whoa" he said "if I knew you could kiss like that, I would have kissed you sooner". She laughed lightly. He watched her face glow in the moonlight and gently caressed it with his fingers, gently rubbing his thumb over her bottom lip. The wind blew a gentle breeze. Scorpius brushed stray strands of her hair away from her face and smiled.

"So what does this mean?" she asked him.

"I think it means that we're more than just friends" he said grinning cheekily at her.

"I think I'll be ok with that" she said smiling.

"Oh really?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah I'll live" she replied and he laughed. She stood up and walked to the edge of the pond. Rubbing her shoulders she sighed and hugged herself. It was getting cold; summer was passing and giving way to autumn.

"You're cold" Scorpius observed as he neared her.

"Just a little" she said dismissively and almost at once he had taken off his cloak and placed it around her shoulders.

"What will the muggles think?" she asked gesturing to the cloak and looking around at the teenage couple that were doing some heavy making out on the other end of the park.

"I think that they've seen enough of oddities around this place to care" he replied and she smiled.

Lily could feel Scorpius behind her and impulsively she leant into him, her back meeting his chest. They stayed like that for a while until Lily had to go.

"So when can I see you again?" he asked as she walked in the direction of her house.

"I'm not sure, I'm busy all this week so I guess I'll only be able to see you at Varian's family dinner" she said and he nodded.

He felt slightly disappointed that he didn't get a goodbye kiss when she ran back to him and gave him the most passionate kiss he had ever had. With a goofy smile on his face he waved as she walked off and then he disapprated back to the Malfoy Manor.

As he lay down on his bed, all he could think about was Lily, the way her hair had felt under his fingers and the way she smiled and the way she kissed him. Oh Merlin! Especially the way she kissed him. He drifted off into a peaceful sleep dreaming of his scarlet haired beauty, while the parchment on his desk lay forgotten.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Lily snuck back into her house, she was fortunate that tonight everyone was asleep. Sometimes her father would stay up till the early hours of the morning completing his reports and work. It was only when she got to her room that she realized that she still had Scorpius's cloak with her. She shrugged out of it and nuzzled her face in the warm fabric. It smelled like him and it brought her a sense of comfort. As she was getting ready for bed she heard the top step of the stairs squeak. She went over to the door and opened it a tiny bit so that she could peer through the crack. It was James; he was creeping towards his bedroom carrying an armful of books. What was he doing sneaking back into the house in the middle of the night? And what was with all those books? She would find out tomorrow. But for now, she was contented to go to bed and dream of the handsome gray eyed man who had caught her fancy.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

It was a nice cool morning but things in the Potter household were getting quite heated. James and young Sirius were having a very loud 'debate' at the foot of the stairs.

"No James I will not let you use my Nimbus Evolution!" Sirius was shouting.

"Why not Sirius? Oh come on please? I'll only need it for a couple of games" he pleaded.

"No. Absolutely no freaking way! You make a ton of money, so why don't you just buy yourself one?"

"I need the money for something else so I'm trying not to buy stuff that I'm not going to use everyday. Besides I only wanted to use the broom for a couple of games because as a beater I don't really need a fantastic broom to play. It's these arms that do the playing" James said and flexed his muscles.

Sirius rolled his eyes "yeah right. Whatever but this doesn't change anything, ok? I am still not lending you my broom. That thing is like my baby, you do realize that don't you?"

"I'd like to see you take care of a real baby" James muttered.

"What? What was that? Stop muttering under your breath James, it's rude don't you know that?" he exclaimed.

"Oh you think this is rude Siri boy?" he asked moving slowly towards his brother. "Well what about if I take that Nimbus Evolution of yours and shove it up your"-

"Good morning brothers of mine" Lily greeted in a sing song voice as she pushed through her bickering brothers. "Lovely day isn't it; you shouldn't waste your time fighting"

Her brothers looked at her like she'd grown an extra head. They glanced at each other with puzzled, confused expressions and both shrugged their shoulders. They watched as she continued to hum to herself.

"Lily" James said rushing over "are you ok?"

"Yeah" said hurrying over to join his brother and sister "I mean did you bump your head exceptionally hard this morning when you woke up?" he asked and Lily smiled at him.

"You have beautiful eyes Sirius" she said and walked past him.

Both brothers were looking incredibly bewildered. "I have beautiful eyes?" Sirius asked.

"Sirius has beautiful eyes?" James asked looking incredulously at Sirius. "Let me see" he said and grabbed his brother's face and looked into his eyes.

"Would you piss off you wanker, it's going to look like we're gay or something" Sirius exclaimed smacking his brother's hands away. "Now keep your hands to yourself" he said and walked back up the stairs to his room.

"Oi" James called as he followed Lily "how come Sirius has beautiful eyes, what about me?" he asked and Lily rolled her eyes.

"Yes you have nice eyes too" she said and James looked satisfied.

"Thanks I thought so myself" he replied looking smug and she rolled her eyes some more.

"There's not enough light in the house" Lily muttered to herself and yanked open the living room curtains.

At the bright burst of sunlight streaming through the windows, James clasped his eyes and winced. "What in the world has happened to you?" he asked his sister as he shielded his eyes.

"Oh nothing I'm quite fine" she said, "I just wanted more sunlight".

She went into the kitchen to fix herself some breakfast and along the way met Kreacher, their house elf.

"Hello Kreacher" she said brightly "how are you?"

"Kreacher is fine, Miss Lily" he said and bowed.

"Oh Kreacher" she said looking at the old house elf fondly "no need for all this bowing nonsense, I told you already. You're like family!" she said and hugged the house elf who shocked beyond words. While behind Lily, James's jaw had dropped.

"Ok what the hell is wrong with you?" James asked as he pulled Lily to the living room.

"What do you mean?" she asked sweetly.

"You're all happy and peppy. I want to know what's going on with you?" he asked.

"I'm just feeling happy. I mean especially now that I have blackmail material on you" she added and James's face darkened.

"What do you mean?" he asked her.

"I saw you sneaking back into the house last night at about three in the morning, carrying all those books" she replied.

"It's nothing" he replied "just some books on how to improve my skills for Quidditch" he said and Lily's eyes narrowed.

"Don't lie to me" she retorted.

"No really, it's nothing" he said.

"Ok fine, you don't want to tell me than I guess I'll just find out for myself" she said and walked up the stairs in the direction of his room.

James went suddenly white when he realized where she was heading. He hadn't had the energy last night to hide those books and he totally forgot about them when he woke up this morning.

"Lily! No! Come back!" he called and rushed after her.

She strode into his room and banged the door open. She hadn't been to James's room in a long time and was shocked to find out that it had changed drastically. Gone were the obscene pictures of witches on his wall and gone were the quidditch posters. James was right behind her as she walked into his room inspecting the new posters that adorned his walls.

"Posters of babies?" she asked incredulously and he blushed a deep crimson color. "You have posters of babies on your wall??" she repeated not daring to believe her eyes. He didn't say anything but he just let her continue looking around. "Where is your quidditch stuff?" she asked but he remained silent. She looked at his freshly made bed to his spotless carpet to his unnaturally tidy room. "Oh my god, why is your room so clean?"

"I just thought it was time for a change?" he said quietly.

"But James this isn't a change, it's more of a revolution" she said gesturing to his room. He shrugged his shoulders. "And besides since when have you ever been so- Oh my god, James why do you have these books in your room?"

James looked defeated as she looked through the books. "Lily its"-

"First time dads?" she asked reading one of the book's titles.

"It's"-

"What to do when you are having a baby?" she asked reading another title.

"I need"-

"Looking after a new born baby? Parenting for squibs? Dads and their babies? James these are all guide books to having a child" she said and he nodded, his face still pale. "James what's the meaning of all this?" she asked and he looked solemn.

"I think you'd better sit down Lil" he said and patted a spot next to him on his bed.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Scorpius was sorting through his owls the morning after meeting Lily. He was in a fantastic mood. He whistled to himself and there was a springy bounce in his step. He did a little dance and spun around when he nearly fell back. Standing behind him was his father looking at him with an eyebrow raised.

"Good morning Scorpius" his father greeted.

Scorpius coughed "oh hello father I was just…err…I was just"-

"In a good mood I see?" Draco remarked and his lips curled into a smirk.

"Yes father" Scorpius answered.

"Hmmm" replied Draco thoughtfully and walked away. Scorpius looked at his father's retreating back with some amusement.

"Ok that was strange" he said to himself. He shook his head and went back to sorting his owls when he came across on that he had seen last night but didn't have the time to open.

_Dear Mr. Malfoy,_

_This is to inform you that I will be contacting you in the near future. I'm going to be sending you an owl next Sunday at 10pm sharp and if you are not there to receive it, it will combust on its own. I'm sorry I have to take all these precautions but I have people after me and I must take care to cover my tracks. Please do not try to contact me because you will have no idea how to reach me._

_Sincerely,_

_A.G_

"Things just keep getting better don't they?" he muttered to himself and pocketed the letter.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"So Jazz is pregnant?" Lily asked looking at James in shock. He nodded his head carefully. "How did this happen?"

"Well Lily, when a man and a woman love each other very much they"-

"I know what happens" she snapped irritated "but I mean how? I didn't know you guys were together and what about protection?" she asked.

"Well we've been together for a long time now" he said and she looked even more shocked.

"What? Since when?"

"Since just before I left for last year's tour around Europe with the team" he said and she looked surprised. "Look I've liked her since Hogwarts and I was scared what people might say about me liking a Hufflepuff so I didn't let it show. I really love her Lil; I mean I've never felt that way about anyone before".

"Look I don't think you need to be worried about that sort of thing now. So it looks like James Potter the Casanova extraordinaire has finally seen the light?" she asked and he nodded his head seriously. "I can't believe you've been with a woman for that long. What's your record before Jazz? Two weeks?" she asked and he narrowed his eyes.

"And as for protection" he continued "I don't know what happened, maybe the spell wasn't strong enough or I don't know. Maybe I have a super sperm".

"Highly unlikely" Lily snorted "but it's too late to think about that now, so what have you decided to do?"

"I don't know Lil. I mean I only found out about this a couple of days ago" he said groaning.

"So where were you last night anyway?" she asked.

"Well Jazz wanted some Droobles everlasting bubblegum flavored ice cream" he said "so I rushed over to bring her some and along the way I stopped at flourish and blotts to buy some of these books" he said.

"Oh Jamie" Lily exclaimed and put her arm around his shoulder. "It'll be ok" she said soothingly.

"I really want to be prepared Lil, and I want to be the best father to my child" he said and Lily felt a surge of affection for her brother.

"What about Uncle Neville and Aunt Eloise? Do they know?" she asked.

"No, even though Uncle Neville seems like the calmest person on earth, I think he'd kill me and as for Aunt Eloise, she'd hate me".

"Well we have to think about this carefully" Lily said and she looked though his books. "These books will help you a lot, see they even have moving pictures that show you what to do" she said.

"Oh Lil" he exclaimed "what am I going to do? I want to know everything I need to do for my baby and I want to know how to take care of any situation that he or she may encounter". He put his head in his hands again and looked so troubled that Lily felt her heart sink for him. "How am I going to get through this?" he asked.

"You will get through this James, and you know why? Because I'm going to help you!" she said.

**A/N:** ok so now that this chapter is done. I hope it meets your expectations. If you have anything to add please review and I will reply to you personally and see what I can do. To those who have added my story to their favourites list and to their alerts…thanks so much! But it would be even better if you could review and tell me how you felt about it…It would definitely make my day! Even one word will do. Flames will be hugged! Take care everyone!


	6. shit! shit! shit!

Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognize

**Chapter 6**

"So have you decided what you're going to do?" Lily asked James as they lounged around the living room eating home made chocolate chip cookies. No one was home except for Kreacher and them. Harry and Ginny had taken Sirius to buy some new clothes in muggle London and Albus had gone for training. James and Lily decided to take full advantage of being alone and began to discuss James's predicament.

"No not really, I mean I know I can support us" he replied raising his shoulders. "Ever since I've found out I've been saving money and right now it'll tide us over but once the new season starts in a couple of weeks I'll be set".

"Well at least we don't have to worry about that. How's Jazz holding up?"

"She's doing ok but it's getting harder and harder for her to hide her pregnancy especially when her brother is a healer" he sighed and Lily's expression darkened.

"Oh I forgot about Mitchell being a healer. It seems we might have to do something about that" she said and furrowed her brows.

"Speaking of Mitchell do you remember the time when you guys went to that ministry ball thing together and you tripped over him and crashed into the buffet table and everyone saw your underwear?" James asked, his eyes sparkling with laughter.

"Yes don't remind me James" she shot back glaring at him.

"That was the highlight of my night. It was a good thing that mum threatened the reporter with her bat bogey hex if not pictures of you and your red underwear would have been splashed all over the prophet".

"Like I said James" she growled gritting her teeth "don't. Remind. Me".

He grinned and ruffled her hair affectionately. "You're really something Lil, you know that don't you?"

Lily smiled and was about to reach for another cookie when she noticed the empty plate. Giving a resigned sigh she turned to her brother. "I wanted to show you some stuff I got for you" she said and he followed her .She skipped into her room and following closely behind, James shook his head and rolled his eyes. She could be such a child sometimes. Lily waited for James to enter the room before she shut the door behind them.

* * *

"So this" she said as she reached under her bed and pulled out a small duffle bag "is for my new niece or nephew".

"Err…ok?" James asked hesitantly looking at the small blue bag that she'd dumped at his feet.

"What?" she asked putting her hands on her hips "I still have to enlarge it you know?"

James looked at her "exactly how much did you buy?" he asked and she laughed.

"Oh not much" she replied absentmindedly and pointed her wand at the duffle bag "enlargio" and she watched as her eldest brother's eyes went wide.

"Sweet Merlin Lily, this bag must weigh a ton. What's in it?" he asked staring at the duffle bag that had been enlarged so that the top of the bag reached his waist.

"Why don't you take a look?" she asked and he immediately began looking through the duffle bag.

"You got everything Lily" he exclaimed looking awed. "A little play pen, a cot, a walker, a baby swing, unfortunately all of them have to be assembled but this is great" he said looking at her with wide eyes. "Wow you also got cutlery, milk bottles, clothes…"

"It's not much" she replied modestly and two spots of pink appeared on her cheeks.

"Are you nuts? What did you do? Buy the whole store or something?" he asked as he picked up a baby rattle and a little jumpsuit.

"No" she said looking at him. Upon his look of disbelief she caved "well it's just that it's my first niece or nephew! And I really want him or her to have the best".

"But Lil, the baby isn't due for another couple of months".

"I know, I know I just wanted you to be prepared that's all. And that's why I got you this" she said and reached into the bag pulling out a huge stack of books.

"Oof" she let out as she dumped the stack onto her dressing table.

"How to get through being a first time dad? Dealing with a severely hormonal woman? First time mothers? Your baby and you?" he asked scanning the titles.

"Yea well some of the books are for Jazz" she said and was surprised when James suddenly pulled her into a hug. "James what are you…"

"Thanks Lily, you're the best sister anyone could ever ask for. Thank you for not judging me and thank you for helping. It means so much" he said as she patted his back awkwardly. Although she and her brothers were close she wasn't used to this side of James. He was vulnerable and afraid of what was to come and it scared her. She had always seen him as the strong one, the one that would stand up for her and step in if anyone threatened Al or Sirius.

"James" she said hesitantly as he held on.

"Hmm?" he asked

"You're cutting off my air supply" she gasped and he let go immediately letting his hands drop to his sides.

"Let's never speak of this again" he said looking serious and she nodded.

"So what do we do now?" she asked.

"I thought about taking you to see Jazz" he said turning to look at her with a half smile curling at his lips.

* * *

Scorpius sat impatiently at the dining table; they were waiting for his grandparents to arrive. It was an annual tradition that on his father's birthday, the whole family has dinner together. Scorpius wasn't really looking forward to the dinner. Usually the tension level would hit the roof and Scorpius was always caught in the middle of some verbal spar between his alcoholic grandfather and his disciplined father. His eyes swept over the ceiling as though praying to the heavens for a bearable evening. Five Malfoys at the same table seemed like a concoction for trouble.

He watched his father who was seated to his right and his mother who was seated opposite him. Pansy looked indifferent and was staring at her reflection in the white gold cutlery before her while Draco seemed to be in deep thought. Scorpius twiddled his thumbs as he sat waiting for his grandparents to show up. He sat patiently as Doner the house elf took the blood red napkin from the table and placed it in his lap. He couldn't help but think about Lily at a time like this. Lately she'd been the main focus in his mind, he wondered what she was doing now and he could just envision he bright smile and her crimson hair rippling in the sunlight. Wait till his family heard he was going out with a Weasley. He shook his head slightly, now wasn't the time to be thinking about Lily. His grandfather would be walking through the double doors to the dining hall any minute now and he needed to be prepared, mentally.

His eyes roamed around the dining hall and landed on his parents. Draco looked as stoic and unreadable as always and Pansy was sighing impatiently. The silence in the room had reached a point beyond awkward and was now hitting unbearable. Scorpius was just vaguely wondering how long they'd have to wait for his grandparents when the double doors to the dining hall opened. In strode his grandfather, looking as arrogant and self assured as always.

"Draco, Pansy, Scorpius" he greeted.

"Father" Draco greeted and then went over to hug his mother.

"Good evening grandfather" Scorpius forced himself to say. Lucius made a non committal noise and sat down at his usual place. After kissing his grandmother on the cheek he pulled back her chair for her and let her sit down.

"Draco your father and I have something for you" Narcissa announced halfway through their mushroom stroganoff.

"Mother you didn't have to"-

"Draco don't be ridiculous of course we did, we wanted to" she replied, dismissing Draco's statement with a wave of her hand.

"Thanks mother" Draco replied accepting the tiny package with silver wrapping paper.

"Well go on darling open it" Narcissa coaxed her son. Draco opened the wrapping and was left with a dark green velvet box. He gingerly opened the box to reveal a thick platinum band with the Malfoy crest carved into it with the initials DM.

"Mother, father thank you" Draco replied politely thanking them and putting the ring on.

The rest of the meal passed by in silence until Scorpius decided to speak up. "Father, I know it isn't much but I got you something. Draco looked up from his steak with mild surprise. "Here you go father" he said passing Draco a large box like package.

Scorpius watched as Draco took the package and examined it with childlike curiosity. What could his son possibly give him? Scorpius watched as his father tore open the wrapping paper, his heart beating wildly in his chest.

"Scorpius this is…" Draco trailed off finding the right words to say. He held up his present and Narcissa smiled brightly when she saw it.

"Oh Scorpius its lovely" she breathed and Draco nodded in agreement.

"Thank you Scorpius" his father said not taking his eyes of the framed moving photograph of him and Scorpius. The photograph was of a seven year old Scorpius being pushed on a swing by his father and Scorpius was laughing joyfully while Draco had a rare smile on his face.

Scorpius nodded and went back to his dinner unaware that his grandfather was eyeing him with immense dislike and disapproval. Dinner resumed in silence until Doner interrupted them delivering an owl that had arrived for Scorpius.

"Mister Malfoy this is for you" the elf replied handing him a parchment scroll.

"Thank you Doner" he replied politely and eagerly tore unrolled the parchment.

_Dear Scorpius,_

_I was wondering if you are free later tonight. I was thinking maybe we could do something together? At the moment I'm out with my brother doing something for him so I was thinking maybe we could meet up at the park like the last time. Let's say at midnight? Owl me back if you can make it._

_Lily_

Scorpius grinned to himself. Of course he was free and even if he wasn't free, he'd sure as hell make time for her. He scribbled back a note and told Doner to deliver it.

"Who was that from?" Draco asked.

"It was from a colleague at work father" Scorpius replied.

"Was it some good news? It must have been to produce one of your famous Scorpius grins" Narcissa put in good naturedly.

"Oh it was just that we've received a new lead on the De Winters case" he replied smoothly. His family didn't need to know about Lily yet.

Lucius looked at him carefully "I thought you said that the case was hitting a dead end, that there were no witnesses".

"Yes grandfather but it seems now things have changed" he replied calmly and Lucius narrowed his eyes.

* * *

Lily followed James up the steps to the Longbottom residence. She was anxious and excited with a little bit of fear thrown in. She knew Jazz fairly well but they were not buddies or anything. She stood stiffly as James rang the doorbell.

"Uncle Neville, Aunt Eloise and Mitch have all gone to Ireland. They're visiting Uncle Seamus" James leant down to whisper. She nodded her head in understanding. She was about to whisper something back when the door opened to reveal a woman with a pleasant heart shaped face, long dark curly hair and wide light brown eyes.

"James?" the person asked her face lighting up.

"Hey baby" James replied back, his mouth set in a wide smile.

"Lily?" the person asked turning to look at Lily.

"Hi Jazz" Lily answered back with a friendly hug.

"Wow look at you" Jazz said leaning back to look at Lily "you look great" she exclaimed.

"Thanks Jazz but so do you" Lily replied and Jazz laughed looking pleased.

"Well come on in, nobody is at home. It's just me" Jazz said inviting them in.

James sat down on the couch with Lily while Jazz plunked herself down on an armchair. "So I take it that James told you about us" she asked.

"Yeah" Lily replied nodding "and about the baby too".

"Oh I see" Jazz said looking slightly alarmed.

"Don't worry I won't say a word I promise" Lily assured her. "Look Jazz, I understand that you're scared but trust me I can help" she replied.

"How?" the dark haired woman asked her voice a mere whisper. "In two to three more months I'll be showing and there's no way I can hide from Mitch. He is a healer after all. There are so many different ways for us to get caught".

"Don't worry, I have a plan" Lily said and James leaned forward looking hopeful.

* * *

Scorpius was in his bedroom furiously pacing up and down. It was an hour and a half till midnight and he could hardly contain his excitement. He didn't know what to do to pass the time and so he paced. It seemed like a good idea at the time. He had just settled into a long night of pacing when a knock on his door halted him.

"Son are you up?" came his father's voice from the other side of the door.

"Yes father come in" he replied and his father opened the door and walked into the room. Scorpius looked puzzled; his father rarely came into the room unless it was urgent.

"Scorpius I just wanted to say thank you for the present" he said. "It means a lot to me and I'm glad you gave it to me. I look at it and it reminds me of what we used to be".

"Father?" Scorpius asked looking a little worried. Could it be possible that his father was on drugs?

"I'm just saying Scorp"- Ok that was beyond strange that that was the second time this year that his father had referred to him as Scorp. Maybe his father was on drugs. "I'm just saying that that picture reminded me of what a failure I've been to you".

"Father??" Scorpius asked again this time feeling a little more worried.

"If anything should happen to me tomorrow Scorpius, I don't want to go without you knowing me. I want us to have a good relationship son" Draco said sitting himself down on Scorpius's bed.

"Nothing's going to happen to you father" Scorpius said seriously.

"I know son, but I'm just saying. I hope it's not too late to fix this".

"Fix what father?"

"I hope it's not too late to fix our relationship" Draco said Scorpius's mouth dropped open.

"I- err…no father it's not too late" the younger blond replied.

"Good, now I was hoping that maybe you could play a game of chess with me?" he asked.

Glancing at the clock Scorpius turned back to smile at his father "sure father I'd like that" he replied and with a last glance at the clock he followed his father out the door and to the library.

* * *

"You want Jazz to what?" James exclaimed.

"Look now that Rose is getting married to Varian. She will be moving in with Varian and I have decided to buy over Rose's half of the flat. So when I move back in, maybe Jazz could come and stay with me?" she asked looking slightly worried that she'd said the wrong thing.

Jazz brightened and leant forward to hug Lily "I would love to and besides my dad would definitely approve if I was staying with you. He like loves you" she said to Lily.

James looked thoughtful "you know Lils, this might actually work" he replied and he gave her a wide smile.

Looking at the time her eyes did a double take "sorry I have to go guys but there's somewhere I need to be" she said standing up.

"Wait! Where are you going?" James asked.

"I need to meet a friend, I'll see you at home later James. Bye Jazz I'll be in touch soon" she said and with a pop she disappeared into thin air leaving behind a very puzzled looking James and a hungry Jazz.

* * *

Lily had been waiting for a good ten minutes before Scorpius showed up looking slightly windswept. The moment he saw her, he began apologizing profusely.

"I'm so sorry" he said taking her hand in his "my dad had this epiphany where he decided he wanted to reconnect with me and he asked me to stay behind to play seven games of chess and by the time I got away it was already"-

"Shhh Scorpius its ok" she replied with a chuckle.

"Were you waiting long?" he asked and she shook her head.

"Just ten minutes" she replied.

"Well then I guess I have to make up for the ten minutes I was late" he said walking towards her so that their lips were just barely brushing against each other.

"Yeah" she breathed "I guess you will" she replied and tilted her head forward to press her lips against his.

* * *

James Potter crept along the hallway of number 12 Grimmauld place just as the clock chimed two in the morning. He was trying his best to be as quiet as possible but was failing terribly. He foolishly realized that it was incredibly stupid trying to walk around in the darkness without any light whatsoever. Slapping a hand to his forehead he muttered "lumos" and a tiny glow emitted from his wand.

He then made his way into the kitchen for a late night snack. He was reaching into the fridge for some of Grandma Weasley's chocolate fudge cake he almost wet himself when he heard a noise behind him. Raising his wand in defense he called out "who's there" slapping his forehead once again realizing yet again how stupid he sounded. If it was someone who wanted to attack him they wouldn't willingly show themselves. Or would they? He thought to himself as he saw a silhouette by the door. "Show yourself" he called, hoping to god that it was anyone, anyone but his father. Harry could always tell when a person was lying; it was probably due to his years and experience of being an auror.

"Merlin James don't wet yourself, it's just me" came the voice from the silhouette by the door.

James squinted into the darkness. "Sirius?" he asked in surprise.

"No it's Voldermort" came the sarcastic reply and James found himself grinning as Sirius made his way to his eldest brother.

"I'm glad it's you and not dad" replied James with a sigh.

"Tell me about it man; I nearly wet myself when I realized that there was someone in the kitchen. If dad caught me sneaking back in at this time, he'd bloody murder me and hang me by my toes" Sirius replied with a shudder.

"Wait a second" James said furrowing his eyebrows "why are you sneaking in?" he asked and Sirius looked suddenly nervous. There was suddenly another noise behind them and the two of them whirled around, wands readied for a possible attack.

"James? Sirius?" came a very shocked voice.

"Al?" Sirius asked incredulously. "Oh Merlin, this is just too weird".

"Wait what are _you_ doing here?" James asked and Al looked mortified.

"I was out" replied the green eyed boy.

"Until two in the morning?" Sirius asked.

"Well yeah but I could say the same for the two of you" Al shot back.

"Well we all have our secrets so let's just keep them to ourselves shall we?" James asked and his brothers nodded.

"Shake on it?" Al asked and the three of them spat into their palms and shook each others hands.

"Well, as fun as this little bonding session was, I'm really worn out so I'm going to go to bed now" Sirius said stretching his arms and accidentally knocking a vase off the counter top.

"Wingardium Leviosa" Albus murmured and vase stopped mid crash and floated in the air, held up only by Albus's wand.

"Oh thank Merlin" James breathed "I was going to have a heart attack Sirius you twit" he scolded.

"Sorry" Sirius replied although his tone suggested that he wasn't really feeling sorry.

"Well, its ok thanks to Al's quick auror reflexes the vase is ok" James replied shooting Al a grateful grin.

"Wow, all this excitement's suddenly made me hungry" Sirius said grabbing an apple from a bowl.

"Toss me one will you" James said and Sirius threw an apple to his older brother hitting him on the arm.

"That's not how you bloody throw something" James said. "This is how you throw it" he replied and with the skill of a chaser, he tossed the apple back at Sirius who moved out of the way of James's power ball.

Albus who had been standing behind Sirius trying to slowly levitate the vase back to its normal position was suddenly put in the apple's line of fire and before he could react the apple hit Albus on the side of the head and he collapsed to the ground unconscious.

"Shit!" James and Sirius cried as both Albus and the vase crumbled. The vase shattered into a thousand pieces with a loud CRASH! And Sirius and James turned pale.

"What the hell is going on?" asked an angry voice from the kitchen doorway and the lights suddenly switched on.

"Oh Merlin" Sirius murmured looking like he was about to die. Which figuratively speaking, he was.

"What are you three doing down here at this time of the night?" Harry asked looking from one guilty face to another.

"We…err…we"- Sirius stuttered.

"AND WHAT ON EARTH HAPPENED TO AL?" Harry yelled and if both Sirius and James almost wet themselves earlier, then they definitely did now.

Sirius watched as his father revived Al with a simple "enervate".

"Why didn't we think of that" Sirius whispered to James who promptly glared at him.

"Why didn't you think of it you moron, you leave everything with me" James shot back.

"It's cause you're the oldest so naturally I would leave everything to you while I on the other hand, am the itty bitty baby Sirius whom everyone loves" Sirius shot back.

"No you are the itty bitty Sirius that's a pain in the ar"-

"ENOUGH" Harry bellowed and his sons looked nervous. Rarely had they seen their father angry before and now was one of those times. When Harry got angry, he was furious. "Now is anyone going to tell me why all three of you are sneaking back in at two in the morning or do I have to veritaserum it out of you" he said and Sirius gulped shaking his head.

"Actually dad" Sirius said "I was"-

"What Sirius means to say dad is that we were all out together preparing a surprise Stag's night for Varian" James put in batting his eye lids innocently at his father who didn't look like he was buying the story. James shot Sirius and Albus a dirty look and both boys batted their eyelashes innocently at their father.

"Its true dad" Albus piped up wincing in pain at his sore head. He pressed the ice pack closer to his head and gave his father a pathetic smile.

"So that's why you're all out so late. Well at least you're not sneaking out to go to pubs or meet your girlfriends" Harry replied chucking. "By the way where's Lily. I'm really surprised that she's out so late and still hasn't come back home yet" he said looking at his sons.

"Lily?" Sirius asked looking puzzled "I haven't seen"-

"She's meeting a friend to discuss Rose's hen's night" James replied immediately and his father nodded.

"That would explain it" Harry replied "usually she calls to tell us that she'll be late. She must be really busy".

"Yeah" James replied as Al and Sirius stared open mouthed at their eldest brother.

"Ok, so what's happening with this stag party?" Harry asked looking interested.

"Well dad it's going to be at the dancing unicorn and it's going to be guys only. We're going to have a lot of butterbeer" Sirius said walking around purposefully and Harry nodded looking slightly impressed. "We're going to have firewhisky drinking competitions and we're going to have Veela strippers. Lots and lots of Veela strippers" he added with a faraway look in his eyes. Harry's face changed.

"Strippers? Strippers you say? Veela Strippers?" he asked and Sirius nodded proudly.

"Yep and I thought of them. It was all my idea" Sirius replied proudly and Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Oh it was, was it?" Harry asked and Sirius nodded his head vigorously.

"Well then you're coming with me. We're going to have a little chat. You've been reading the latest edition of play wizard haven't you?" he asked and Sirius gulped nervously as Harry pulled him by the ear up the stairs.

"But dad how do _you _know what's in the latest edition of play wizard" James and Albus heard Sirius ask their father cheekily and both had to stifle their laughter. They watched as their father straightened his back and pulled him on the ear more forcefully.

"Oww watch the goods dad!" Sirius yelped and James shook his head.

"So" Albus said looking at James once his father and Sirius had disappeared up the stairs. "Where exactly is Lily anyway?" he asked and James shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't even know" he replied truthfully "she had to go and meet someone".

"At this time of the night?" Al asked incredulously.

"Well" James said looking pointedly at him "same could be said for you. Where were you really?"

"I was err…" Al stammered, two bright pink spots coloring his cheeks.

"You were what?" James asked suspiciously.

"I was out, where were you?" Al asked back suspiciously.

"I was out too" James replied defensively. "What's it to you?"

"Nothing" Al replied. "What's it to you?" he asked back.

"Nothing" James replied indifferently.

"Fine, I was at a bar ok? There are you happy now, you can stop giving me those suspicious looks" Albus said looking quite annoyed.

"I wasn't looking at you suspiciously" James said and Al raised an eyebrow.

"So what about you? Where did you go?" Al asked James.

"I'm not telling" the older boy taunted and Al looked betrayed.

"But I told you where I went" Al exclaimed and James clapped his hands in glee.

"Yes but that doesn't mean I should tell you where I went" he replied and with a cheery "goodnight Al" he skipped happily up the stairs.

"Jackass" he murmured and followed James up the stairs faintly wondering where Lily actually was.

* * *

Lily lay down on the blanket, Scorpius's head touching hers so that their bodies made a straight line.

"Have you ever wondered what lies beyond the stars?" Lily asked and Scorpius chuckled.

"Every time" he replied "but then I think sometimes that maybe I'm better off not knowing".

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Sometimes what you don't know can't hurt you" he replied.

"Yeah I guess" she said "so are you coming to Varian's on Saturday?"

"I don't really want to" he replied "but Varian's like my brother so I guess I'll have to".

"I don't want to go either but Rose is like my sister so therefore I have to go" she replied.

"Honestly there are much better things that I could be doing with my time" Scorpius replied slyly rolling over so that his body lay next to his.

"Really?" she asked coyly "like what?"

"Like this" he replied and closed the distance between them.

Lily smiled giddily when they'd finally pulled apart for some air. She was flushed and her eyes held a spark that hadn't been there before she met Scorpius.

"You know Lily, I'm really glad I met you" he said, his voice low and husky. "I don't think I've been happier".

She smiled brightly at him "same here" she replied. "Oh crap!" she exclaimed sitting up and looking at her watch.

"What? What is it?" Scorpius asked in concern getting to his knees.

"I have to go, it's three in the morning" she said.

"Wow, is it that late?" he asked and she looked at him pointedly.

"Right, it is that late" Scorpius replied as she scrambled to gather her bag. Standing up and putting on her heels that she'd discarded earlier, she would have fallen if Scorpius hadn't caught her.

"Thanks" she said shooting him a grateful smile.

"When will I see you next?" he asked.

"Probably at the Zabini dinner" she replied and kissed him on the lips.

"I can't wait that long" he groaned pulling her closer to him so that her chest was pressed against his.

"Neither can I" Lily whispered against his lips "but you're going to have to. I'm busy till then. I have my book to write plus I'm writing an article for the prophet as well" she replied.

"So I guess the only time I'll be able to see you is at Varian's then" he said with a resigned sigh.

"I guess so" she replied "but if we're bored we can always make a quick exit" she replied against his lips.

"I'll hold you to that" he replied and molded his lips against hers.

"Mmmm Scorpius" she moaned "I really have to go".

"Fine, I'll see you later. Good night" he said.

"Goodnight" she replied with a broad smile on her face. "Don't let the bed bugs bite" she teased and with a giggle, she disappeared.

Scorpius smiled to himself. Who knew he'd ever find happiness with a Weasley?

* * *

"Where have you been?" James asked ambushing her as she entered her room. He was seated on her bed reading one of his parenting books.

"I've been out" she replied simply a huge smile on her face.

"Where?" he asked.

"None of your business" she replied.

"Fine" he replied sourly "but i'm only letting this slide because you've been so good to me".

"Ok" she replied, still with a smile on her face.

"Have you been taking drugs?" he asked her suspiciously when her smile never wavered.

"No" she replied unfazed "i'm just happy".

"Hmmm" James said thoughtfully. Something seemed to be going on with Lily and he vowed to get to the bottom of it.

* * *

Varian's dinner came sooner than expected for Lily. She had been so busy the whole week, running around and helping Rose with wedding preparations that she barely had enough time to owl Scorpius. Lily put on the black cocktail dress that she'd bought for the evening and surveyed herself in the mirror.

"Yes, looks ok" she said to herself.

"Oi Lily are you done?" came Rose's call from the other side of the door "We have to leave soon" she said.

"Yeah I'm done" she called and opened the door to reveal a stunning Rose.

"Wow you look gorgeous" Lily exclaimed.

"Thanks" Rose replied humbly.

"Let's go meet your in laws then" Lily said and She and Rose apprated to the front doorsteps of the Zabini Manor.

* * *

The girls received a cordial welcome from Mr. and Mrs. Zabini and were hurriedly ushered in by Varian to their table. Although it wasn't long before both Varian and Rose were whisked away by Varian's relatives. Scorpius was already seated at the table and he smiled broadly when he saw Lily.

"Hi" he said with a smile.

"Hi" she replied mirroring his smile.

"You look beautiful" he said and she beamed at him.

"You don't look too bad yourself" she replied with a grin.

"I do try" he said with mock cockiness and she chuckled.

Lily looked up as Varian approached their table. Beside him stood a very familiar young man of whom Lily instantly recognized.

"Guys this is my cousin Akkarin Avalon" Varian introduced.

"Hi" Akkarin said first shaking Scorpius's hand and then bringing Lily's hand to his lips and kissing it.

"This is my best friend in the whole world Scorpius Malfoy" Varian introduced and Lily looked as though someone had decided to slap her around a few times, Scorpius meanwhile smiled politely at Akkarin. "And this is Rose's cousin Lily Potter" Varian said introducing Lily. This time it was Scorpius's turn to look shocked. Actually shocked was more of an understatement. Shell shocked was more like it. His eyes widened in disbelief and his jaw dropped.

Both of them stared at each other looking utterly betrayed. "Oh my god" they muttered at the same time. Neither Varian nor Akkarin seemed to notice the obvious horrified expressions on both faces.

The first thing that went through Scorpius's mind was _shit, shit, shit, shit!!_

The first thing that went through Lily's mind was _my family is going to kill me._

* * *

**A/N: ok sorry for the lack of update. I know, I haven't updated in a while so I thought I might as well do it now! Hope you all like it and please review and let me know!**


	7. important

This is a general author's post that I will be posting in all my stories…I've recently been introduced to livejournal and I have been thinking about posting my stories up on livejournal because I would like to have everything that I've written in one place, and not scattered all over the place …and I'll also be doing stories that center around my original characters in some of my fics. For example I will do separate stories for Orion, Maya, Harlan and Terry from my Family man fan fiction piece.

I will also be posting up my original works up but for that I need a place. If anyone who is livejournal savy and is educated in its ways please let me know because I desperately need help with working it out. I've been deciding between livejournal and blogspot for a while now so please let me know if you would be interested in reading my stuff if I post them up on either livejournal or blogspot…and please let me know which one you'd prefer cause I can't seen to make the choice… The stories I would be posting would be:

**HARRY POTTER**

-Meeting the son-in-law

-Save the Dragons for goodness sake

**HANA YORI DANGO**

-Suki Yuki

-All I need

**SMALLVILLE**

-The family man

**BOYS BEFORE FLOWERS**

-Yi Jung's family

-Yi Jung's (in)sane family

And as for my original works, I will be posting one that I have been writing for a while now called As the cherry blossoms bloom.

**ORIGINAL WORKS**

**AS THE CHERRY BLOSSOMS BLOOM**

Akira Mimura is a half Japanese, half Eurasian girl. Her father was disowned by his wealthy plutocrat family when he chose to marry Akira's mother, Kendra Williamson, whom he'd met whilst studying in University in Melbourne Australia. Akira's parents in a futile attempt to reconcile with her paternal grandparents, take a trip to Japan. There in Japan, the then five year old Akira befriends a boys she meets in a playground and they vow to meet again, giving each other a little token to remember each other by. Unfortunately fate is such that they don't meet until eighteen years later. But life is complicated for the pair and neither realize that they've met before. Obstacles get in the way for the pair and it's still uncertain if they will fight the barriers keeping them apart or lose their true love forever.

**LOST IN SEOUL**

Sasha Mason has finally done it. She's made the move to Korea to be with her fiancé Matthew James who is a film producer. Throwing caution to the wind, she heads to Korea landing a job as an English teacher. Unfortunately due to unforeseen tragic circumstances Sasha soon finds herself alone in Korea with no home, no job and no knowledge of the Korean language. Just when she thinks that life is hopeless, the last person she expects, come to her aid. Sasha learns that sometimes life deals you with troubles so that when you overcome them you'll understand the true meaning of happiness. Follow Sasha along on a journey of life, love, friendship and self discovery as she attempts to survive in a world that she barely knows.

Well what do you think? I'll also be posting up new stories that I have ideas for. So review this post and let me know if you'd rather I continue on fanfiction and post up my originals on my blog or if you'd rather I post everything on my blog. And which you prefer too, livejournal or .

Thanks guys,

Sheen


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